Hardships of love
by Marisay-chan
Summary: Three men just moved into a new house. Exactly what kind of adventure they will bring to the neighbors?
1. The new neighbors

_Oh my god…I need some encouragement…Anyways, Marisay-chan writing here! First YuGiOh story, here I come! This was inspired by_ _ **PhoenixDiamond**_ _, who wrote fabulous YuGiOh stories regarding this pairing! Be warned though, the sexual content in the story is quite high, nothing explicit though.(Who knows, I might change my mind *Shrugs*)_

 _Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters, only the story ^.^_

 _In Italics are thoughts_

 _Summary: Three men just moved into a new house. Exactly what kind of adventure they will bring to the neighbors?_

 _Story Starts_

* * *

 _~In a room~_

"Have either of you seen my puzzle?" Tanned hands flipped open every single box, trying to find the missing item. "I can't find it anywhere!"

A snort had those tanned hands pausing in their action.

A man with ivory skin stood near the door, holding a box in his arms. "That's what you get for lazing around instead of helping." The man then walked past the door, seemingly ignoring the other's panic.

"I was not lazing around…" The tanned man pouted slightly, following after the other man into another room and leaned at the door. He watched the other man taking things out of the box and proceeded to sort it all out, his back facing him. "…Are you going to tell me where it is, Yami?"

"Why would I know where you left your puzzle?" A crimson eye peeked over the shoulder. "You are the one who packed your things."

A defeated smile formed on the tanned man's face. He ran a hand through his spiky hair sheepishly. "Are you still angry?"

Yami twitched his eye and turned his head back to the front. "Why would I be angry?" He took out another stationary and placed it on the table a little harder than usual.

A chuckle came directly next to his ear had him shivering slightly. A tanned hand reached forward and gently grabbed the wrist, prompting Yami to let the abused object go before he vent out his frustration out even more. "Because of this…and the fact that you have been rather cold towards me."

"I wonder why." Sarcasm oozed out, making the tanned man chuckled once again and rested his chin on the shorter man's shoulder.

Atem shifted his hand so that he was intertwining their hands and brought the paler hand up to his lips. "I'm sorry, Yami. Will you forgive me?" He placed a chaste kiss on the back of the pale hand and nuzzled it.

A hint of pink painted on Yami's cheeks at the affectionate gesture, leaning back so his back was against the other man's chest. "…I forgive you, Atem…just don't do it again, all right?"

"Hmm…" Atem turned his head and trailed his lips to Yami's neck.

Yami flinched at the close proximity, a soft gasp escaping when those lips blew warm air against his sensitive neck.

A vein popped on the crimson-eyed man's forehead.

"…You are doing it again." Yami struggled against Atem, just noticing that Atem had taken advantage when he was distracted and trapped Yami within his arms. "Let go. I still need to unpack."

"It can wait…" Atem whispered into Yami's neck, planting butterfly kisses on it, giving a satisfied hum when he heard the moan Yami was trying to hide. "In my defense…it's just really hard to resist. No matter if it is you, or the little one."

"Atem…" Yami closed his eyes involuntarily, feeling weakened as Atem continued his ministration. "Wait…S-Stop…"

"I can't." Atem bit on the neck and lick it tenderly, making a small bruise on the there. His hand started traveling upwards, going underneath the black sleeveless shirt that Yami wore and, using his thumb, rubbed against one of the nub on Yami's chest. He groaned softly when Yami jerked in his arms and let out a muffled moan. Atem used his other hand to tilt Yami's head towards him, capturing the other's lips, overpowering the other.

Yami, on the other hand, was slowly forgetting about stopping his taller lover. The pleasure was overwhelming. He tried one more time to stop his lover, by not letting Atem into his mouth, pressing his mouth tightly close. However, it only served as a challenge, for Yami could feel the smirk forming on Atem's lips. Crimson eyes peeked out and glared, only to widen as mischievous maroon eyes stared right back. Before he could even comprehend, Atem had thrust against him, forcing Yami to gasp right out.

 _T-That pervert…!_

Yami was reduced into a trembling pile as a tongue sensually entered his mouth and mapped it out. He could not fight back even if he wanted to. He inwardly cursed his lover, knowing Atem was doing this on purpose, for he knew very well what could and could not arouse him. The kiss was getting so intense that he almost missed a voice.

"Atem? Are you looking for your puzzle? You left it-Ah."

Yami broke the kiss and turned to face the new comer dazedly.

Another man with bright athemyst eyes appeared at the door. A blush appeared on that man's cheeks as he witnessed the intimate moment. "Aah…I will just…step outside for a moment…"

"W-Wait, Aibo-"

"Yugi, my little one." Atem interrupted, turning both Yami and himself so that both of them were facing the third person face to face. "Come here…and join us."

The blush on Yugi's face enhanced and it got worse when Atem dragged a hand down and placed it on Yami's belt. He only managed to open the buckle when a pale hand slammed down on his and gripped it threateningly.

Atem gulped, feeling the grip tightening with every second.

"Aibo." Yami smiled at Yugi, whose face was totally red. "Could you wait outside for a moment? I just need to settle something."

"Ah…" Yugi glanced at Atem, who was pleading him with his eyes not to leave him and looked back towards Yami, who was still smiling at him…that would have been normal if it were not for the death-like grip he had on Atem's hand and the throbbing vein on Yami's cheek. He could feel a sweatdrop forming on his head.

"Sure…"

* * *

 ** _The new_** ** _neighbors_**

* * *

…And the sweatdrop grew in size and number as he stood outside, with the door closed, hearing some strangled scream and pained shouts. Yugi sighed and shook his head helplessly.

The door opened after a few seconds. Yugi looked towards the direction, to find Yami standing there, eyes closed nonchalantly and a vein still visible on his head. The man chuckled awkwardly and walked to Yami, placing a chaste kiss on the other's lips in an attempt to ease the angered man. "Are you all right?"

It worked like a charm. Yami immediately opened his eyes and smiled gently at his lover, before returning the kiss. "Yes. I apologize you have to witness such a scene."

"It's fine." Athemyst eyes went beyond Yami and into the room, where he could briefly make out Atem's figure lying face down on the floor. "…I'm used to it."

He was speaking the truth too. Every time, Atem would find an inappropriate opportunity to seduce either him or Yami into doing something more, and the third lover would happened to come in right in the middle where things were getting intense. The moment after that point of time, Yami would dragged Atem somewhere where Yugi would not be able to see and proceeded to…sink some manners into the man.

"Mah," Yugi went into the room and kneeled down beside Atem. "I'm impressed that he even lasted this long. I would have thought that he would jumped either one of us the moment we came into the house." He gently patted the bump on Atem's head.

A pained groan made Yugi stop.

"Yami would toss me out of the house if I do that." Atem turned his head to look at Yugi. "…It's not my fault that the both of you are so irresistible." He reached out a hand to stroke Yugi's knee. The hand crept up, onto the thigh and reaching into the inner thigh that had Yugi giving a surprised gasp, before Yugi was pulled out of reach from the probing hand.

Yami narrowed his eyes at the still lying down Atem, holding Yugi protectively. "Perhaps you have not learnt your lesson. Is another one needed?"

"No! I mean, no." Atem sweatdropped and cleared his throat to hide his embarrassment for giving such a high-pitched voice earlier. "But…you can't really blame me, can you, Yami? The both of you are just so wonderful…it makes me want to show you how much I love you two."

Atem smiled when the both of them blushed shyly.

The three of them have officially been together for barely a year, and knowing each other even longer than that. Atem was not in the least ashamed to announce to the whole world that, that one year was the best of his life. The two people before him brought so much joy and happiness to his life that he just wanted to make them feel the same way.

"T-That does not mean you have to do it." Yami looked away from Atem's loving eyes. "We…wouldn't have minded it if we were about to get ready for bed…or if you want some l-loving attention."

Atem brightened up while Yugi gaped at Yami, astonished that Yami was saying such things. Yami became a private person when it came to bedroom activities, and sexual topics almost never came out of his mouth. Yami glared at Atem, not looking at Yugi. He was afraid that if he did, he would end up blushing up a storm.

"It is not appropriate when all of us are busy unpacking since we just moved into a new house and," The glare went up a notch. "Especially not when you have to go to work in a few hours time."

"A few hours is more than enou-" Atem quickly changed the rest of his statement at the murderous glare Yami had. "Of course not. I'm sorry."

Yugi giggled at the antics between both men. "As I was saying earlier, you left your puzzle in one of the suitcases. I have placed it in your office."

"Oh? I have an office?" Atem stood up, rubbing the bump on his head and winced at his careless action.

"Un." Yugi nodded happily. "This house has more than enough rooms for the two of you to do your work. One for your photography work and one for Yami to test his games…Oh, I almost forgot. Kaiba-kun called earlier, Yami. He seemed a little…annoyed, and wants you to call him back as soon as possible."

Atem was a successful photographer, mainly taking sceneries and natures. However, most of time he would get called to photograph some celebrities and models for advertisements or magazines. Yami was working in game testing in a company called Kaiba Corporation, which was his cousin, Kaiba Seto's, company.

"Kaiba did?" Yami wrecked his brain for a reason for Seto's annoyance. "…I hope nothing happened while I was not around."

Being the boss's cousin as well as the co-boss, Yami was in-charge of every procedure that went inside the company. If something went wrong, he would have to fix the whole thing himself. Not that it was a bad thing, except that he did not enjoy reporting such things to his cousin, who did not bother going easy on Yami, cousin or not. In fact, Yami had a slight suspicion that it was precisely because Yami was his cousin, Seto went harder on him than the rest of the employee. It may seem unfair to other people, but it just stated that Seto trusted Yami a lot.

Yami shook his head. His cousin always had a weird way of showing how much he trusted a person and his feelings.

"I'm sure everything is fine," Yugi assured. "…Though, you better call him just to make sure."

"I will." Yami kissed Yugi's temple in thanks and walked out of the room to find the phone.

Arms suddenly wrapped around Yugi's body, startling him. "What about you, little one? You don't have a room?"

Yugi relaxed in Atem's hold and laughed. "Why would I need one? Everything I need is at the Kame game shop."

Kame game shop was where Yugi's family lived and was also a shop that sold various games. After getting together with Atem and Yami for quite some time, Yugi had decided to move out and lived with his boyfriends, thus the new house they just moved in, but would helped out the shop from time to time.

"Hm…Do we have any extra rooms?"

"Let's see…there are only five rooms upstairs: one bedroom, one bathroom, a guest room, just in case one of our friends decided to stay over, and one room for each of you. Down here, we have the kitchen, living room, which will be this room here, another bathroom and a storeroom. So…I guess there's no extra room."

Atem pursed his lips; he did not liked Yugi not having a space of his own. He was brought out of his thoughts when he felt a peck on his lips. He looked down to see Yugi smiling warmly at him.

"It's all right. I don't need one. All I need is the both of you."

It would be a crime not to melt at those words. Atem placed his forehead on Yugi's; they closed their eyes and sighed in content. It was moments like this that made Atem felt like he was the luckiest person on earth. He pressed Yugi firmly against him, hands stroking those pale arms, enjoying the warmth of Yugi's body.

The moment was broken when Atem spoke.

"One bedroom, huh?" Maroon eyes opened teasingly. "Rather bold, aren't we, little one?"

His words had fulfilled his intention. Steam puffed out of Yugi's body in embarrassment. Atem could not hide the grin that was plastered on his face.

"I-I…thought that it would be fine if we slept together on the same bed." Even Yugi's ears were red. "We did it before…"

"Oh?" Warm breath tickled Yugi's ears, making it even redder. "…Of course. I made sure we did it multiple times, didn't I?"

A shocked gasp came out of Yugi's mouth at the double meaning, his wide athemyst eyes looking up at maroon ones. "T-That's not what I…!"

A finger pressed on Yugi's mouth, stopping him from saying anything else. Atem smirked, a gleam appearing in his eyes. "What are you thinking about, little one?"

His question caused Yugi to become totally red.

Atem licked his lips, knowing he was about to have Yugi in his grasp. "Are you thinking back of the times when our bodies were joined as one? How sensual it was? How…loud you were?" Atem chuckled darkly when an almost inaudible whimper reached his ears. "You like-no, you love it when I tease you, don't you? The best part," Atem's voice dropped and became really sultry. "Would be when you released yourself." His hand fanned its way down, until it reached those leather covered butt cheeks. "The scream you gave, the look you had when you did…" He groped those cheeks, earning a small cry. "Makes me want to reenact the scene…right now."

A hand dropped on Atem's shoulder just as Atem said 'now'.

A 'caught-red-handed' look crossed Atem's face. "Uh…" He fearfully turned his head around and gulped harshly when he saw who was standing there.

Yami was looking at him blankly, a wireless phone held against his ear in his other hand. The other two men could hear Seto's voice mumbling through the phone.

"Y-Yami." Atem released his hold on Yugi and raised his hands in a surrendering pose. "I-I didn't hear you come back. What's wrong?"

Crimson eyes took one look at the flushed face of Yugi's and spoke into the phone, "Kaiba…do you mind speaking to Aibo for a while?"

A questioning voice was heard on the phone. But instead of answering, Yami merely gave Yugi the phone, which Yugi had fumbled a few times to take it as he was still affected from earlier, and turned his attention to Atem.

By this time, Atem had sweatdrops running down the back of his head. The words 'I'm dead' kept running through his mind.

"You don't mind coming with me, do you, Atem?" The tightening grip on his shoulder did not give him a choice.

Yugi could only watched as Yami led Atem out of the living room and shut the door, preventing Yugi from seeing anything, but not from hearing everything.

Seto's voice snapped Yugi out and brought the phone to his ear. "H-Hello, Kaiba-kun."

" _Yugi, what's going on?_ "

"Um…" Yugi glanced towards the door at the pained shout he heard.

He sweatdropped.

"…Atem just had not learnt his lesson, that's all."

* * *

 ** _The new_** ** _neighbors_**

* * *

 _~At a building~_

"…And that's how it is." A brunet male sat in an office, phone held up to his ear. "Yami is required to attend this…meeting." His icy blue eyes rolled to the side at said meeting, visibly annoyed at that.

" _I understand, Kaiba-kun. I will inform Yami about this-_ " Seto blinked when he heard a muffled shout from the phone. " _-When he's done._ "

Seto twitched his eye. "Spare me the details of your life, Muto. Just made sure that Yami turns up for the…meeting."

Yugi's awkward chuckles were heard. " _Of course, Kaiba-kun. Although, don't be surprise if he is late. Yami dislike balls as much as you do, especially if the daughter of the Wong Company will be there as well._ "

The Wong Company was one of the companies that Kaiba Corporation had endorsed to spread their products. Seto had been their business partner for as long as when he had taken over Kaiba Corporation. A few years back, the boss of the Wong Company had passed away from an illness, prompting the daughter to take over the business. Unfortunately, the daughter…displeased both Seto and Yami for her uncouth way of doing things. She even tried blackmailing Yami for not becoming her 'love slave'. The only reason why Seto tolerated her was due to Mr Wong's wife, who became severely depressed after her husband's passing. She once told Seto that her husband worked very hard to run this business and seeing that it was able to work with one of the most successful company, brought tears of joy to her.

Seto closed his eyes in frustration and wheeled his chair to face the window behind him. "I don't care so long as his presence is there. Madam Wong will be there to check the progress between our company."

"… _I see._ " Yugi was fully aware of the situation with the Wongs. " _Don't worry. Yami will attend it_."

"…Everyone is allowed to bring partners to this…meeting."

" _Eh?_ "

Seto blew air out of his nose. "You and Atem would be able to attend as well."

" _Oh…Is that wise?_ " Yugi had every right to be skeptical. After all, not everyone would be accepting to a polyamory relationship.

"Don't be stupid, Yugi." Seto snorted. "The moment Yami got together with you and Atem, he made it very clear to everybody that he's in a relationship with two men. And I am sure you know about this," Kaiba smirked, recalling something. "My cousin can be very persuasive when he wants to be."

Indeed. So persuasive that one of the business partner, who dared to mock their relationship, ended up changing his whole opinion about it…and made it a point to stay far, far away from Yami as much as possible.

"…" The silence that came from Yugi, indicated that he did not want to know what happened exactly. " _…I didn't know he told everyone about us…_ "

"Snap out of it." Seto barked out, hearing Yugi's voice taking up a dreamy tone.

" _Oh, right. Sorry._ " Seto could almost feel the sheepish grin Yugi had. " _I will talk to Yami and Atem about this first. Be sure to greet us if we did attend._ " Yugi teased the boss.

"Buzz off, Muto." He pressed a button on his phone to cut off Yugi's laughter.

It was not surprising for Yugi to act so closely with the boss. After all, he had helped Mokuba, Seto's brother, once when he was kidnapped. But that would be a story for another time.

For now, he had to deal with the paperwork that was piling up on his desk.

* * *

 ** _The new_** ** _neighbors_**

* * *

Yugi shook his head while pressing a button on the phone, a laugh escaping once in a while. It was always amusing to tease Seto.

The door to the living room opened after a while.

"What are you laughing about, Aibo?" Yami came in and took the phone from Yugi.

"It's nothing." Yugi smiled and glanced to the door. "…Is…Atem coming?"

A vein popped on Yami's head. "No, Aibo. He would be lying down for quite sometime. In the meantime, we should finish unpacking and you can tell me what Kaiba had said to you."

"Ah…all right…"

Outside, at the entryway, laid Atem, with more bumps on his head, all of which were smoking slightly.

* * *

 ** _The new_** ** _neighbors_**

* * *

 _~A few hours later, 2.00PM~_

A door opening had a woman and man turned towards it.

"Ah! There you are!" The woman placed her hands on her hips, pouting at the person coming in. "Just where were you? You were suppose to be setting up…and what's with all those bumps on your head?"

"Good afternoon to you too, Mana." Atem smiled wryly and ignored the question regarding the bumps that seemed to have increased in numbers. "…And I believe that it's your job to set up. I am only a photographer. Good afternoon to you, Mahado."

"Afternoon, pharaoh." Mahado smiled amusingly. "Yami, I presume?"

Pharaoh was a name Atem used whenever he worked. It used to be a safety measure. There had been someone who became so jealous of Atem's success, they tried to have him assassinated, which brought Atem's family into the cross-fire as the assassinator almost ended up killing his father, since the person only give Atem's family name to the assassinator. This made Atem created a name for himself to protect his family. He chose pharaoh, because of his Egyptian roots and due to his family name. However, ever since it was known that he knew Yami, the need for the name diminished. It was practically suicide to mess with anyone related to the Kaiba family, and none dared to try. But Atem had retained the name, mainly for fun. It did not hurt to have such a powerful name either, since it brought him more clients.

"Shut up, Mahado." A small pout formed on Atem's lips. "…Since when it was not?"

"Since never~" Mana sung, making Atem twitched in annoyance. "Silly Atem. You could just wait until bedtime, then," She winked. "You could ravish them to your heart's content. With handcuffs and maybe some…vibrating stuffs."

Mana and Mahado worked together with Atem as his assistants, helping with the lightings, clothes arrangement and others. They had worked side by side for so long, that Atem could not imagine having anyone else working with him.

"Mana…!" Mahado shot a wide-eyed look to his fellow worker, who was wriggling her eyebrows suggestively at Atem.

"…" Atem stared, jaws slightly unhinged. "…I…have no idea whether to be appalled at such things coming out of a lady's mouth…or to take up the suggestion…" He placed his chin on his fingers. "…You think they will like toys in bed?"

"Pharaoh!"

"Oh, I'm sure they do." Mana grinned deviously.

"MANA!"

"Really…?" Atem frowned in thought. The both of them ignored Mahado's cries at the background in favor of the conversation. "…Wouldn't it be…weird?"

Mana's teal eyes glittered. "Of course not. Imagine this: you have Yami handcuffed to the bed and on his back, and Yugi is on top of him, with Yami inside him…along with a dildo, vibrating so vigorously that both of them probably need you to move them since the pleasure is too overwhelming…with me so far?"

Atem nodded dumbly. Everything Mana was saying was forming the image in his mind. He could almost see that happening. Both of his lovers, lost in the pleasure, calling him to just take them, their lust-filled gaze, their delicious cries…

He swallowed audibly, feeling his body starting to heat up.

"And then, they will-Gah!"

Atem was yanked out of his fantasy at the sudden pained cry. He blinked a couple of times before focusing on the scene in front of him. Mana was rubbing her head at one corner, tears flowing down her cheeks at the pain. Her cheeks were all puffed up. The photographer gave another blink and looked at the other person in the room and backtracked at the malicious aura he was faced.

"I believe that we have a job to do." The aura increased. "It would be best of you to focus here, pharaoh." Atem sweatdropped as Mahado comically got bigger, his eyes glowing red against the dark aura. "Otherwise, I will be forced to tell Yami about your conversation with Mana. Am I clear?"

Chibi-Atem nodded frantically.

"Good." Mahado smiled, the aura disappearing and everything went back to normal. "Well then, we shall be on our way. We are already behind schedule."

The other two watched Mahado walked off while continuing rambling about their schedule.

"…At times like this, I have no idea who is scarier; Yami or Mahado." Atem muttered to himself.

"That hurts…" Mana went to stand beside Atem, sticking a tongue out in Mahado's direction. "So…"

Atem hummed in question.

"You want a toy? I know of a few places that sells that best ones."

"…I will think about it."

* * *

 ** _The new_** ** _neighbors_**

* * *

"And…we are finally done!" Yugi cheered, plopping himself on the couch in the living room. He stretched his strained muscles and relaxed back to the couch with a sigh. "Or at least…please tell me we are done. My body can't take it much more."

He squeaked when something cold collided with his right cheek. It was incredibly cold against his flushed cheeks that was caused by heat and exertion. He cupped a hand on his cheek and looked up.

"We are done, Aibo." Yami handed the glass of cool water to Yugi, taking a seat next to him. He chuckled when Yugi gave a small cheer and sipped happily on his water. "You should shower first before you relax further, Aibo."

"In a while." Yugi agreed. "But right now, I think my body is turning into mush on this really comfortable couch." He laid the glass of water on his lap. "I still can't believe this…"

"Believe what?" Yami took up a task of massaging Yugi's legs, smiling amusingly at the satisfied moan that came.

"This." Yugi gestured the room with his hand. "I can't believe that I am in a new house…our house." He smiled happily at Yami. "It feels like a dream."

Crimson eyes softened. Yami leaned in and pressed a kiss to Yugi's lips. He pulled away slightly, leaving only a small gap between their lips. "It's not a dream, Yugi. This is what we have earned after so many years…does it make you happy?"

"Happy does not even describe it…" Yugi whispered, staring into those crimson eyes. He felt as though he would get drunk from looking into those eyes. "…Love you so much, Yami."

"Love you too, Aibo." Yami closed the distance and proceeded to pour his love into the kiss.

Yugi trembled against the kiss as he always did whenever either of his lovers kissed him. The kisses they shared just seemed to send electricity to his body; he swore that even his heart stopped a beat. He leaned his head backwards, letting it rest on the couch, feeling too weak to hold it up. Yami took advantage of this and rested a hand beside Yugi's head on the couch; his other hand removed the glass cup from Yugi's hands and placed it on the table near the couch. He then pressed into the kiss even more, slowly leading Yugi's head to the armrest of the couch so that Yugi was lying on his back, not once breaking their kiss.

Yami then broke the kiss to rearrange his body, positioning himself over his lover. The crimson-eyed male took in the sight of Yugi looking at him with half-lidded eyes, and smiled. He landed a kiss on Yugi's forehead, the bridge of his nose, his eyes, his cheeks and finally firmly pressing it on the slightly swollen lips. Yugi raised a hand and clutched it on Yami's shirt, needing something to ground him down.

Before they knew it, their tongues were out of their mouths and were playing with each other. Small sounds of moans and grunts escaped from both of them, too engrossed with each other to care about the saliva flowing down their chins.

Yugi snapped out of the situation first when he felt a hand trailing down his body and going under his shirt. "Mmnn…W-Wait, Yami…Mn…not here…"

Yami slowly finished their kiss and reluctantly parted away from Yugi, leaving the both of them panting, wanting more.

"…Damn it." Yami growled softly and hid his face on Yugi's neck. "This is all Atem's fault. He left us wanting."

Yugi chuckled tiredly and patted the tri-colored hair of his boyfriend's. "I think it's best if I go shower now. I'm just tempting you more if I stay-Nnh…Yami."

"Sorry, Aibo." Yami licked the neck one more time and forcefully removed himself from Yugi's soft tempting body. "…That sounds like a good idea. It wouldn't be good if someone decided to ring the doorbell at this point of-"

 _DING DONG_

Yami and Yugi blinked and turned their heads in the direction of the front door.

" _Hello? Is there anyone in there? Thought that I would come and introduce myself, seeing as we will be neighbors from now on._ " That was what they heard from the door.

"Exactly my point." Yami deadpanned.

Yugi chuckled and kissed Yami's cheek. "Now, why don't you go and introduce us to our neighbor while I go and freshen up."

Yami's eyes followed his boyfriend up the stairs almost greedily before frowning and shaking his head. It would not do him any good to act like Atem.

" _Hello?_ "

He stood up, straightened his clothes and removed any visible signs of the earlier occurrence with Yugi. Once he deemed everything presentable, he stalked towards the door and opened it.

"Hel-Oh." A blond man stood outside. "Hey, how's it doing? I hope I am not bothering you or anything?"

"No." Yami politely answered. "You are…?"

"Jounouchi Katsuya." The man grinned and saluted Yami with two fingers, before holding out a hand for a handshake. "Pleased to meet you."

Yami looked at the hand and to the face of the one offering it. Katsuya blinked in confusion when Yami continued to stare at him.

A smirk then appeared on Yami's face.

Katsuya grinned in satisfaction when his neighbor clasped his hand and gave a firm handshake.

"Inishie Yami," The smirk on Yami's face grew. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Jounouchi-kun."

Katsuya was about to say something when the next thing Yami said shocked him.

"I live here with my two boyfriends, Jibade Atem and Muto Yugi. Would you like to come in for a drink?"

~To Be Continued~

* * *

 _I just love writing about these three! Did all of you get an idea about all of their personalities? I'm using this story as a test. Trying out things that I have not tried in other stories, like the homophobic situation. While common in fanfictions, in the real world it is not as accepting, so I wish to portray that._

 _Things to note:_

 _Aibo – Means partner in Japanese_

 _-kun – Used, to refer to males. Can also be used on females of junior status by a person of senior status_

 _Inishie – Means ancient in Japanese_

 _Jibade – Means related to royalty in Arabic_

 _ **Omake:**_

 _ **~Before Atem went to work~**_

" _ **You could at least be gentle about it..." Atem complained half-heartedly, rubbing his forehead in an attempt to ease the pain that was erupting on his head.**_

" _ **The point," Yami sharply injected. "Is for it to be painful so that you will learn…It seems that it is not painful enough-"**_

" _ **Ow, ow, owwwwwww!" Atem immediately bent over, holding his head in his hands. "My head is going to explode…"**_

" _ **Don't exaggerate…" Even though he said that, it was obvious that Yami was a little worried that he had hit Atem too hard.**_

" _ **Are you all right, Atem?" Yugi bent a little, trying to get a look at Atem's face. "I will go get some painkillers for you."**_

 _ **Before he could even take one step, a hand stopped Yugi in his tracks.**_

" _ **I will go get it, Aibo…It's my fault."**_

" _ **Ah…all right." Yugi watched Yami leaving and went back attending to Atem. "Why don't you sit down, Atem. Here." He wrapped an arm around Atem's waist and maneuvered him to the chair.**_

" _ **T-Thanks, Yugi…" Atem sat down and leaned back on the chair, eyes closed tightly.**_

 _ **Getting really worried, Yugi stepped forward to look at Atem's head. A maroon eye peeked out. In just one quick movement, Yugi suddenly found himself seated on Atem's lap.**_

 _ **Yugi tried to look behind him. "W-Wha-"**_

" _ **Shhh…" Atem took a deep breath at the back of Yugi's neck, loving the scent that was there. "Hmmm…you smell so good, little one." A squeak escaped, as he tasted the neck. "Taste good too…Need you, Yugi."**_

" _ **W-Wait…Stop…"**_

 _ **The tanned lover grinned naughtily. "My body is moving on its own…I can't stop."**_

" _ **Is that so? Shall I help then?"**_

 _ **A yelp left Atem's mouth at the sudden voice. He timidly looked to the left and wished that he had not bothered looking.**_

" _ **Well? Need help?" Yami tossed the bottle of painkillers up and caught it when it fell back down. "What am I saying…of course you need help. You are in pain, aren't you?" Crimson eyes glowed.**_

" _ **L-Little one." Atem hurriedly whispered to Yugi's ear. "I will do anything as long as you stay." He was then shocked when Yugi stood up, frowning.**_

" _ **You are on your own, Atem." Then, he left the room without any hesitation. Apparently, Yugi was a little steamed at Atem for playing around like that when he and Yami were genuinely concerned about him.**_

 _ **Atem's jaw dropped at the betrayal that sweet, innocent Yugi presented. "D-Did Yugi just…deserted me?" Normally, Yugi would wait for Yami to ask him to leave or make the first move. He actually whimpered when hands gripped his shoulder. Atem glanced up fearfully.**_

" _ **Don't worry." Yami popped open the bottle of painkillers, looking rather malicious while he did. "Once I am done with you, you won't remember anything about Aibo deserting you. Now, why don't you take the painkillers…I think you need them."**_

 _ **Atem hastily took it, knowing that he definitely needed it this time.**_

 _That's all folks! Do leave a review for me!_


	2. A teenager's love

_Marisay-chan over here! Gosh, this story is going to give me toothaches…it's just too sweet~!_

 _ _To **Chaos**_ ** _ **Twin of D** estruction_** _:Thank you for your support!__

 _To 'Guest': Both are correct. I am using the romaji spelling. Haha, Yami is not shy about sex, he just does not talk about it openly. He's like a king; being proper and all, believing that all sexual activities should remain private with him and his lovers...and at the right moment too. You will see in this chapter._

 _To **TsunaMoe** : I love your username! XD But no lemons...for now XD And thank you, I'm glad that you have enjoyed it *Bows*_

 _Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters, only the story ^.^_

 _In Italics are thoughts_

 **In bold are flashbacks**

 _ **In bold and Italics are thoughts in flashbacks**_

 _Story Starts_

* * *

 _DING DONG_

"Coming!" Soft footsteps headed towards the door. The door opened to reveal Katsuya and a girl with auburn hair.

"Ah! Jounouchi-kun and…Shizuka-san, right?" Yugi greeted the both of them with a smile. "Welcome! The both of you are early."

"Heh." Katsuya rubbed a finger under his nose. "How can we resist spending time with all of you? My sister here was all excited too."

"Onii-chan!" Shizuka pouted and hit Katsuya lightly on the arm. She then bowed to Yugi. "Thank you for inviting us, Yugi-san."

"Not at all." Yugi opened the door wider. "Come on in."

"Sorry for intruding." The sibling echoed and stepped inside.

"Your home is beautiful, Yugi-san." Shizuka complimented, looking at some of the hieroglyphs that were on the wall. "What are these? I have never seen them before."

"I know, I know." Katsuya pointed at those hieroglyphs confidently. "Those are called Heromyths, right, Yugi?"

Yugi broke down into a fit of giggles.

"Hieroglyphs, Jounouchi-kun." A voice came from behind.

The three of them turned around to see Yami standing at the stairs with an amused look. "It's a formal writing system that ancient Egyptians used."

"Yeah, yeah. I knew that." Katsuya scratched his head, not willing to admit that he was wrong.

Yami shook his head and went to Yugi, giving him a kiss on the temple before looking at the guests. "Welcome to our house. Dinner is almost ready. Why don't we wait in the living room first?"

"Yes! Dinner!" Katsuya winced when Shizuka nudged him none-too-gently. "I-I mean, where's Atem?"

"Cooking." Yami replied, leading the siblings to the couch while Yugi went to get some refreshments.

"Eh?" Shizuka gasped lightly. "A-Atem-san cooks?"

"All three of us do." Yami chuckled at the surprised expression. "Atem just cooks better than us." He then looked at Katsuya. "You don't seem surprised, Jounouchi-kun."

The blond male thanked Yugi for the drink and gave Yami a deadpanned look. "…I don't think that I will ever be surprised from anything the three of you do from now on. Especially since you decided to bomb your relationships to me when we first met a few days back!"

A laugh escaped Yami before he could contain it, earning him a kick with Katsuya.

 **"I live here with my two boyfriends, Jibade Atem and Muto Yugi. Would you like to come in for a drink?"**

 **The smile that Katsuya had, faded into a jaw drop. "B-Boyfriend?"**

 **"Boyfriends." Yami corrected, gesturing the stunned neighbor into the house and lead him to the living room. "What would you like? Soft drink, tea?"**

 **"I-I…uh…wait…Two boyfriends?!"**

 **"A soda, then." Yami nodded and went to the kitchen. He grabbed a soda from the refrigerator and passed it to his guest. "Here you go."**

 **Katsuya could only grab the soda and sat down, still trying to wrap the information in his mind. "So…uh…Two boyfriends?"**

 **Yami hid a smile and nodded. "Two wonderful boyfriends. Atem just left for work though. Yugi is upstairs, he will come down soon enough."**

 **"A-Ah…" Katsuya stared at Yami warily.**

 **Not that he had anything against homosexuals, but it was just…surprising. For some odd reason, the moment his neighbor said that he had, not one, but two boyfriends, the image of big, strong, bulky men being together came to mind and honestly, it was sort of…nauseating. He gulped in slight disgust. But…**

 **Brown eyes took in every inch of Yami. The man before him was not that bad looking. In fact, most people would probably say that Yami was a very handsome man. From the unique hair to those hypnotizing crimson eyes, his slightly muscled body gave him a manly feel and yet not too bulky. So it was not too strange to see his neighbor with another man, he guessed.**

 **Yami allowed Katsuya to scrutinize him, trying not to laugh out loud at the various expressions that crossed the confused face. He could only imagine too well what the other man was thinking about. Thankfully, while uncommon, Japan was rather accepting to homosexuality. That was why Yami had no problem informing everybody about his preference. Polyamory, on the other hand, was another topic.**

 **The crimson-eyed man averted his eyes away from Katsuya and to the stairs where he heard footsteps coming down. "Looks like Yugi's done. Why don't I introduce you to him?"**

 **"H-Huh? A-Ah, sure…" Katsuya stood up with Yami, watching Yami walked to the door and went out of view from the doorway. He heard some mumblings going on before seeing Yami reentering the room, looking at the door, waiting for Yugi to come in.**

 **Katsuya could feel his heart pumping faster as another man started coming into view. The image of a bulky man was scaring him. It was not his fault that such things came to mind. Out of his 23 years, he had not encountered a single man that went for the same gender, so it was of no wonder he was reacting this way.**

 ** _Please don't be a bulky man. Please don't be a bulky man. Please don't be a bulky man. Please don't be a bulky man!_**

 **The blond male chanted in his mind profusely while sweating heavily, watching with trepidation as half of Yugi's body became visible.**

 ** _Please don't be a bulky man! Please don't be a bulky man!_**

 **Yugi stepped towards Yami, blinking widely at the guest.**

 ** _Please don't be a bulk- Eh?_**

 **"Hello." Yugi smiled. "Jounouchi-kun, right? It's very nice to meet you." He held out a hand for Katsuya.**

 **Brown eyes blinked and took the hand with a stunned look. There was nothing bulky about Yugi. If anything, Yugi was totally feminine, but you are still able to tell that he was a male. He was shorter than Yami and had a skin tone that was a little lighter than Yami's. Katsuya supposed that this was one of the pretty boys he heard about from high school, not that he met one. He also had those wide purple eyes that gave him an innocent feeling and made Katsuya wondered if it was real or contact lenses. The blond man then darted his eyes between his two neighbors and became really surprised to find that he totally did not mind Yugi being together with Yami.**

 **"Um…" Yugi smiled awkwardly at the look he received. "Is something the matter?"**

 **The words left Katsuya's mouth before he could even think about it. "You are really cute."**

 **A wave of silence descended upon the room.**

 **Yugi gaped in disbelief. "W-What…!"**

 **Katsuya panicked. "N-No! I-I mean I thought you were…but you are not…very cute…I mean-!" He quickly let Yugi's hand go in embarrassment.**

 **During this moment, the third person present was busy holding his aching stomach from all the laughing he was trying to endure.**

 **"Yami! Just what did you tell him?!" Yugi frowned indignantly at his lover.**

 **"I-I said nothing." Yami coughed and regained his composure, though there was a grin on his face now. "I merely informed him about me living with my two boyfriends…my cute Aibo."**

 **Katsuya blinked at Yugi pounding at the chuckling Yami on the arm in mortification. He saw Yami grabbing those petite hands and placed an apology kiss on each hand with a cheeky smile, making Yugi flushed. The scene was rather…**

 **… _I guess even homosexual couples can be really cute too…_**

 **Katsuya slapped a hand on his face. "...And to think that I was worrying for nothing…"**

 **Yami tilted his head. "Indeed."**

 **"Huh?" Katsuya stared at Yami, whose grin was getting wider. "Wait…you knew I would react like this?!"**

 **The comment only made Yami laughed out loud.**

"Shut up, you little rascal!" Katsuya reached for Yami and pulled him into a headlock, rubbing a fist furiously on Yami's head. "You think it was so funny, huh?!"

Yami struggled against Katsuya for a while, managing to get the fist off his head. "W-Wait, Jounouchi-kun." An amused look was plastered on. "Well…it was quite amusing, don't you think so? I have never seen someone going so pale when meeting another person."

"You little-!" The fist rubbing continued, getting pained cries from Yami, with Yugi shaking his head in exasperation and Shizuka smiling awkwardly. "I swear I was going to run out of the room if Yugi was a bulky man! Who on earth would just blab out about something like that to someone they just met?!"

"P-Pain…! All right, all right…! S-Stop, Jounouchi-kun!" Yami held a hand over his head to protect it. "The only reason I did that was because I knew you would not react negatively."

"Huh?" The torture stopped.

"I knew it the moment I saw you, Jounouchi-kun." Yami smiled warmly. "That's why I said those things to test if I was correct in my judgment…and I have to say…It's an honor to be your friend."

"Yami always have excellent judge in characters with just one glance." Yugi supplied to the confused blond man. "After you left, Yami told me that-"

 **"Jounouchi-kun is a rather interesting person." Yami commented once Katsuya had left the house. "We probably won't find anyone as loyal as him."**

"Heh. **"** Katsuya bashfully rubbed his nose. "…But that still does not excuse you!" And so the torture continued, initiating a wrestling match between Yami and Katsuya.

Deciding to ignore those two, Yugi turned to the sister. "Jounouchi-kun aside, are you all right with this, Shizuka-san? Jounouchi-kun probably already told you about us…but even if your brother is fine with it, it's all right if you don't feel comfortable. We don't mind."

"N-No." The girl shook her head. "I…think I'm fine with it. If all of you love each other, who am I to say anything? Love knows no bounds."

Athemyst eyes softened. "…If only everybody thinks like you, Shizuka-san."

"Eh?" Shizuka was surprised at the sudden change. It was as though Yugi was… going to cry when he said those words. "Yugi-san, wha-"

"Looks like all of you are having fun." Atem stepped into the living room, wiping his hand with a towel, before placing it on a table.

A soft gasp left Shizuka and a blush started surfacing on her cheeks. She could totally see Atem in a relationship with Yami and Yugi. With just one look at the man, Shizuka was able to tell that Atem was the 'man' of the house. If Yami was considered handsome, and Yugi, a pretty male, Atem would probably be…sexy. Shizuka felt steam coming out from her ears when she thought of that word. Atem was only a little taller than Yami and, along with his boyfriends, had a hairstyle that screamed crazy, due to its anti-gravity nature and having more than two colors. The shirt he was wearing did little to hide those toned muscles of his, causing Shizuka to blush even more. But what really set the man apart from the other two, was the exotic tanned skin of his. It was rare to see this kind of skin tone in Japan, making her wondered where Atem was from.

"Hey. You must be Atem." Katsuya did not even bat an eye on Atem's appearance, seemingly holding true to his statement of not being surprised. "Jounouchi Katsuya, nice to meet you."

"Indeed I am. Very nice to meet you too." Atem took the hand that Katsuya held out and shook it. "Glad that I am not a bulky man?"

Katsuya winced and glared at Yami, who had turned his head away to hide his smile.

The tanned man chuckled and turned to the other guest. He blinked when he saw Shizuka staring at him with a blush. Grinning mischievously, Atem took one of Shizuka's hands into his, placing a chaste kiss on the back. "And may I have your name, my lady?"

The blush grew. "K-Kawai Shizuka…"

"Ah." Atem flashed a benevolent smile at the lady. "A beautiful name for a beautiful lady."

"Hey, hey, hey! No flirting with my sister!" Katsuya immediately stood in front of blushing Shizuka and waved Atem away comically.

Atem merely laughed and stood near Yugi. "My apologies. But you do not have to worry about a single thing. No matter how beautiful a person would be, my eyes will only see these two over here." Atem wrapped a hand around Yugi's waist and sent a wink at Yami.

"…Flatterer." Both Yugi and Yami grumbled out with a soft blush.

"…Ah…I really don't mind it now."

Everyone turned to Shizuka, who just realized that she had spoken out loud.

"Mind what, Shizuka?" Katsuya asked.

"U-Um…" Shizuka fidgeted a little, and gestured timidly towards the three hosts. "T-Their relationship. It was…really cute."

"That's what I thought too…" Katsuya mumbled to her, watching the other men smiled, with Yami asking a 'Cute?'.

Getting curious, Shizuka asked, "A-Atem-san. Do you mind if I ask a question?"

"Go ahead, Shizuka."

The girl jerked at her name being used so casually, blushing a little. "Um…Where are you from? You don't seemed Japanese…and you…" She tilted her head awkwardly. "…Didn't use any honorifics on me…"

"Oh? Did I offend you?" Atem blinked curiously. "I apologize if I did. Regarding where I'm from…the house should have given a hint about my heritage." Atem winked at Shizuka.

"T-The house…?"

 **"Hieroglyphs, Jounouchi-kun." A voice came from behind.**

 **The three of them turned around to see Yami standing near the stairs with an amused look. "It's a formal writing system that ancient Egyptians used."**

"Oh…" Shizuka realized it with a surprised sound. "You are…Egyptian?"

"Saheih. Correct." Atem responded in his own language, before repeating it in Japanese. "As for honorifics…I'm afraid that we don't have such things in Egypt. So forgive me."

"N-No, it's all right. I was just curious."

"Egypt, huh?" Katsuya tilted his head. "What made you come to Japan then?"

"Studies for one." Atem sat down beside Yami and gently pulled Yugi to the other side of him. "Two, since I was pursuing a career in Photography, I wanted to travel to a place where there was beautiful sights. So I decided to come to Japan."

"But there are other places with beautiful sights as well." Shizuka blinked in confusion.

"Japan is also most advanced when it comes to technology." Atem shrugged. "It interests me a little."

A snort had everyone turned their heads to Yami, who was sitting on the floor with his eyes closed. "Of course it only interests you a little. You came to Japan just to taste sushi."

A sweatdrop formed on Atem's head. "Hey, hey…" He nudged Yugi when he heard chuckles coming from him. "Well…that too." He admitted to his guests with a sheepish look.

"Why sushi?" The only lady in the house asked while trying to hide her giggles.

"Well…"

"Atem's father bought sushi for him once. Long story short, he loved it." Yami rolled his eyes. "So when he could travel out, the first thing he wanted to do was to come to Japan to eat sushi."

"In my defense, it was fantastic."

"You could buy them anywhere."

"It's not the same."

"…Why am I even arguing about this?"

"Ah." Atem used his index finger and thumb to hold Yami's chin and turned his head towards him. "But aren't you glad that I came to Japan? After all, you get to meet me."

"…There's a limit to arrogance." A vein popped out, along with a slight blush.

"I prefer confidence." Atem's grin softened into a smile. "Are you going to tell me that I am wrong?"

Crimson eyes widened slightly before averting slowly to the side. The blush became more visible to the others in the room.

Not entirely satisfied with Yami's response, Atem turned to Yugi, who was hiding his laughs behind a hand. "What about you, little one?"

The laughs immediately disappeared and a shock-surprised look came. "W-What?"

"Glad that you met me, no?" Maroon eyes went half-lidded, looking slyly at its target.

"W-Wha-" Yugi had to look away at the look Atem was giving him. "D-Don't bring me into your argument..."

"Ahh…But I have too." Atem stroke Yugi's red cheek with his knuckles. "Whenever I bring one, the other must definitely follow. I'm so glad that I came to Japan. I would not have been able to meet the lights of my soul otherwise." The smile on Atem's face lit up as Yugi leaned into his hand with a shy face and a head thumped on his back, feeling heat seeping through his shirt where Yami's head laid. "I love the both of you so much."

"L-Love you too..." Yugi whispered.

"...Love you too." Yami muttered into Atem's back, before quickly standing up, his bangs hiding his face away from his guests. "I...believe dinner is ready. I will go set up." He zoomed out of the living room and into the kitchen that was across of the living room.

"A-Ah, I-I will come with you, Yami." Yugi stumbled slightly while standing up and quickly ran after Yami.

The guests blinked after the rushed off figures and turned to look at Atem's fond face.

Noticing the attention, Atem simply shrugged. "Those two always become so shy whenever I confess my feelings to them. It's endearing."

"Dude..." Katsuya deadpanned, with his sister cupping her cheeks at the cute moment beside him.

"That has got to be the corniest thing I have ever seen…"

* * *

 ** _Yugi's problem_**

* * *

 _~Kame game shop~_

"WHAT?!"

An old man was blown back at the shout directed at him. "N-Now. I may be old, but that does not mean that my hearing is impaired."

"B-But-" A blond girl trembled, tears welling up in her turquoise eyes. "What do you mean Yugi is gone?! Y-Yugi...my darling...no...no...I-I refuse to believe it! I-It was those two, right?! They...they corrupted my darling and that's why...that's why darling was...! It was them!"

The old man sweatdropped as the girl continued to ramble on, getting more and more vicious with her words. "R-Rebecca, calm down. You make it sound like Yugi is dead..."

"And it was their faults!" The girl, named Rebecca, pumped her fists down in anger. "Why didn't you stop them?! You are Yugi's grandfather!"

The grandfather sweatdropped even further and raised a hand to placate the hysterical girl. "Listen to me, Rebecca. You got it all wrong-"

"That's it!" Rebecca glared furiously. "I am going to find out where they stay and get my revenge. And nothing will stop me!"

"Ah...Rebecca-"

"Address."

"I-I beg your pardon?" The elderly blinked at the sudden word.

"Those devils' address, now."

"But-"

"Now." A devilish aura rose behind Rebecca, accompanied by the glowing red eyes.

The old man could not help but felt like his life was in danger.

 _~A few seconds later~_

With a paper clutched in her hands, Rebecca left the place without a backward glance.

The old man was left behind, wiping his temple with a handkerchief. "...Youngsters nowadays...so violent with their love." He heaved out a sigh. "But I'm surprised at her determination. She has not given up on Yugi even after so many years." He shook his head pitifully. "Oh well...I better give Yugi a heads up about a certain trouble heading his way." He was about to reach for the phone, when the phone rang by itself first.

"Hm?" He paused in surprise before picking the phone up. "Kame game shop."

Purple eyes widened before softening in remembrance.

"I thought you would call."

* * *

 ** _Yugi's problem_**

* * *

"That was fantastic!" Katsuya patted his belly in satisfaction. "Hey, we should come here everyday, Shizuka."

"Such high praise." Atem placed his utensils down once he was done with his food. "Although, I pray that won't happen."

"Why not?" Katsuya whined playfully, giving wide puppy looks at Atem.

Yami was staring at the area where Katsuya's food were supposed to be. The plate was sparkly clean. "You...have a large appetite, Jounouchi-kun."

"He had fifths..." Yugi was in disbelief as well.

"If this continues," Atem smiled wryly. "I'm afraid that there won't be any food left for us by the end of the week."

"Hey...I'm not that bad...am I?" Katsuya hesitantly looked at his sister.

"Onii-chan..." Shizuka avoided her brother's eyes. "...You once finished a buffet that was meant for 100 people..."

"1-100 people-!" Yugi squeaked out.

"H-Hey...I was hungry..."

Yami muttered to Yugi, "Interesting person, as I said."

Atem shook his head and stood up, starting to clean the dishes.

"Oh, let me help." Shizuka volunteered, only to be waved back down by Atem.

"You are a guest. I can't possibly let you do the work." Atem flashed a smile. "Just sit back and relax."

At that moment, the doorbell rang. The three people living in the house looked at each other, not expecting any other visitors.

"Weird. Who could it be?" Atem wondered, pausing in his dish washing.

"I will go take a look." Yugi stood up and left the room.

"Did you guys invite another person?" Katsuya tilted his head.

Yami shook his head in denial. "You are the only person in the neighborhood that we know of, Jounouchi-kun. We didn't invite anyone els-" A cell phone chose that moment to make itself known. Yami, being the closest to it, reached over and looked at the screen. "Ah. It's Sugoroku-san."

"Who's that?" Katsuya curiously looked at the phone.

"Yugi's grandfather." The pale-skin man informed and answered the phone. "Hello, Sugoroku-san."

" _Didn't I tell you to call me grandpa? You are dating my grandson, aren't you?_ "

Yami coughed and smiled. "Forgive me, grandpa Sugoroku. Old habits die hard."

" _Youngsters._ " Yami chuckled at the petulant tone Sugoroku had. " _Anyways, I'm afraid this is not a social call._ "

Worry immediately set in. Yami straightened his back. "Why? Is something the matter?" His worried voice had the other three in the room looked at him in alarm.

" _Ah…how should I say this…someone is heading your way…_ "

"Someone is heading our way?" Yami repeated in a confused manner.

" _Well…you better not let Yugi open the door, Yami._ "

"What?" Yami blinked at the phone. "…How did you know there is someone at the door, grandpa Sugoroku?"

"What's going on?" Katsuya asked, trying to comprehend the situation.

" _Ah…you see…it's Re-_ "

"Darling!"

Both Atem and Yami swiveled their heads towards the door.

"That voice-" Dread filled Yami's voice.

"That nickname." Atem scowled.

Atem and Yami looked at each other and abandoned whatever they were doing, Atem dropping the dishes back onto the sink and Yami leaving the phone on the table, and rushed out of the room together.

" _Seems like I was too late…_ " The phone could be seen sweatdropping. "… _Oh well._ "

The siblings glanced at each other after the phone hung up, before deciding to find out what was going on. They peeked their heads out of the kitchen. Surprise would be an understatement at the scene they were greeted with. A teenage girl was hugging Yugi firmly by the waist, glaring viciously at the other two men. Atem was trying not to make it obvious that he was glaring at the girl since Yugi was pleading him with his eyes, while Yami stood at one side, a hand pinching the bridge of his nose with annoyance.

"U-Um…Rebecca-" Yugi tried to get out of the constrictive hold.

"Yugi~! I'm so glad that you are all right! I-I thought that…thought that you had-" The man she was holding onto, panicked when tears started rolling down her cheeks.

"R-Rebecca?! I-It's all right, it's all right…um…" Yugi patted the back of the girl, trying to reassure her. "Why wouldn't I be all right? Also, I thought you were at America."

"I just came back today." Rebecca hugged Yugi even closer, getting an uncomfortable noise from Yugi and a growl from Atem. "The first thing I did was to visit you and…and your grandfather told me you were gone! That you don't live there anymore!"

"I don't." Yugi sighed at the teary eyes directed at him. "I just moved into this new house with Atem and Yami."

At the mention of the other two men, Rebecca glared angrily at them. "You…you two are corrupting my darling! He is too nice and good to be tainted by the likes of you! How dare you force him to live with you?!"

"Who are you calling 'darling'?" Atem said, annoyed at the fact that his lover was in the arms of someone else and yet trying to remain calm. "And we would never force Yugi to do anything that he does not want." Atem thought about that statement for a while. "…Except in the bedroom, that is."

"Atem!" Yugi gawked. He could not believe that Atem just said that!

Katsuya and Shizuka slowly approached Yami, who had a hand planted on his face in embarrassment. Katsuya tapped Yami to attain his attention. "So, uh…who's she?"

Yami dragged his hand down and glanced at Rebecca, who went into an argument with Atem at his crude remark. He sighed and turned to his guests. "Rebecca Hopkins, or Hopkins Rebecca in Japanese name arrangement. She's from America. Her grandfather and Yugi's grandfather were archeologists; that's how they knew each other. And she…" Yami felt his eyes twitched when he saw Rebecca nuzzling into Yugi. "…Have an infatuation with Yugi."

Rebecca cut off her argument with Atem upon hearing that. She narrowed her eyes at Yami. "Infatuation? Is that how you label my love for Yugi? My love for him is unparallel. It's a love so pure that demons like you would never understand." Her eyes became warm and soft when addressing to Yugi. "Isn't that right, darling?"

"W-Wai-" Amethyst eyes widened when Rebecca began closing her distance between their lips. "Rebecca, stop-!" He pushed her away and held her at arms length. "Please, I can't do this with you."

"Oh, you are so shy, Yugi." Rebecca giggled. "I will kiss you later then."

"Wha-" Yugi winced. "N-No, no. That's not it, Rebecca. I-whoa!" The amethyst-eyed male glanced back to see Atem pulling him backwards, this time not holding back on the glare aimed at Rebecca.

"He is not being shy." Atem slowly forced each word out, a vein throbbing violently on his head. Yami went forward, wrapping an arm protectively around Yugi's waist and pulled his lover close to his side, letting Atem handle the situation. "And he certainly does not want a kiss from you! Can't you get that in your thick-childish mind?!"

"Atem-" Yugi was about to reprimand him for being so harsh, but was stopped by Yami.

"No, Aibo. This has gone on long enough." Yami stared at Rebecca. "She needs to hear this. You are our lover and there's a limit to how much we can handle when someone makes a move on you. She is crossing the line. You would think she had given up after these five years."

"That's quite long..." Shizuka was in awe at Rebecca able to hold her love for Yugi for so long.

"I would never give up my love for him." Rebecca declared. She whipped out her spectacle and placed them over her eyes. "I am most suitable for him as the queen. You two are nothing."

"Not this again..." Yugi slumped slightly, sighing at the comfort Yami was providing by rubbing his shoulder.

"Queen?" Katsuya arched an eyebrow.

"Several years ago, Yugi was known as 'King of Duelist'." Yami told Katsuya and Shizuka.

" 'King of duelist'? Where have I heard of that…?" Katsuya tapped his chin in thought. "...Ah! I remembered! You are the champion for winning every single duel in Duel Monsters...that means...you are the 'King of Games'!"

"The title eventually evolved into 'King of Games' due to Yugi being able to conquer any game he plays, and even came up with his own games sometimes." Yami explained for Shizuka's sake. "He's very famous in the gaming world." He smiled proudly at the blushing Yugi.

"...It's just a title..."

"It's not just a title!" Katsuya's eyes sparkled. "Yugi, you have no idea how much I idolized you when I was young! Even when you are in a tough situation, you always managed to turn the whole game into your favor, especially in Duel Monsters! Watching you play is like an adrenaline rush! I even wanted to challenge you one time during a tournament but…" He rubbed his head sheepishly. "…I didn't make it into the finals…"

Yugi smiled. "If you want, we can play against each other anytime."

"T-That would be a dream come true! Thanks, Yugi!" Katsuya pumped his fist. "I can't believe my neighbor is the 'King of Games'!"

"So this is how you want to play?" Atem crossed his arms. "So what if you are a queen? You do know that I am known as a pharaoh in my line of work, right? I would say that I am more than qualified to be at his side. Besides," Atem tilted his head upwards. "You are not even officially known as the queen. You simply won a few tournaments at a young age and were dubbed as a prodigy. No where near being a queen."

Rebecca gritted her teeth at the truth. Not wanting to give up, she pointed at Yami. "What about him? He doesn't even have a title!"

Atem snorted. "You obviously know nothing. Yami is known as a god at his workplace."

"A...god?" Rebecca eyed the man incredulously.

Yami merely stared back at her, not reacting to the label.

A small laugh came from Yugi. When he had everyone's attention, Yugi grinned widely and said, " 'God of Persuasion'." He looked up at Yami teasingly. "There's also the 'God of Perfection', 'Authority God' and, uh..." Red bloomed on Yugi's face. "S-S..."

" 'Sex God'." Atem finished for Yugi. "He's also known as a 'Sex God'. Although, to be even more precise, it's 'Leather Sex God'."

Yami grunted, not exactly pleased with the last title. He landed his forehead on Yugi's shoulder, ignoring the snickering coming from Katsuya.

" 'Sex God'...? At his workplace?" Rebecca came into a ridiculous conclusion. "H-How could you-"

"I shall stop you right there before you continue your sentence." Yami lifted his head high enough to pin his eyes on Rebecca. "It is not whatever you are thinking of. There is no way I will conduct infidelity." He kissed the back of Yugi's neck affectionately, earning a soft sigh from the recipient. "...It is simply a title that women at my workplace made up."

"The reason was, ah, what was it?" Atem grinned teasingly at the annoyed glare Yami was giving him. "The ladies at his workplace deemed Yami here as a 'Sex God' because he was, what was it they said...oozing with sex appeal, especially when he wore leather."

"I will never understand the mind of women..." Yami muttered into Yugi's neck, smiling lovingly when Yugi gave a slight laugh at the ticklish feeling.

"Actually, I do." Atem made a show of sweeping his eyes up and down Yami's figure. "I totally understand them." He licked his lips, eyes taking a darker hue when Yami involuntarily moved his body out of direct sight of Atem's provocative eyes. A low growl from Yami informed Atem that he was not above hitting him in front of their guests. "...Ahem. To add on," He quickly resumed his conversation with Rebecca. "Yami is related to the Kaiba family. Forget games, he's practically a royalty in reality."

"What?! You are related to the Kaiba family?! That really rich family?!" Katsuya dropped his jaw at Yami.

"I'm the cousin." Yami tilted his head with a hint of amusement. "Whatever happened to not going to be surprised by us, Jounouchi-kun?"

"Urk...You guys are just too surprising!" Katsuya defended, eyebrows twitching badly. "Can't you tone it down a little?"

"Life would be really boring that way."

"T-That's..." Rebecca trembled. "...That's not fair! I really love Yugi! The two of you stole him away from me! He was supposed to be with me!"

The mentioned men gave sighs of irritation and frustration. "We never 'stole' Yugi." Atem bit out, rubbing his temple. "If anything, both of us won Yugi's heart fair and square. We went through a lot just to win his heart, which was very hard to obtain, mind you. Yugi had this ridiculous notion that he's not worthy for us."

Yugi shifted uncomfortably when he felt stares on him. Yami shifted so he was hugging Yugi from behind and clasped their hands together in front, squeezing a little to comfort Yugi.

"We love Yugi too." Yami stated, gazing Rebecca straight in the eyes. "That's why we took the time to court him and never giving up, no matter how many times he rejected us. We never…stole him, as you said."

"R-Rejected?" Shizuka's exclaim had Yugi biting his lip at the memories.

"Playing hard to get, huh, Yugi?" Katsuya wriggled his eyebrows playfully. He was confused when Yugi stared at the ground with an abnormal curiosity.

"He was not playing with us." Yami side-glanced. Katsuya felt as though he had stepped on a nerve. "But truly believed that he does not deserve to be with us." Yami nodded in forgiveness when Katsuya gave an apology look, before looking back at Rebecca. "In any case, you and Yugi were not together. So we never stole anything."

"I-"

"...Please, Rebecca."

The girl looked at the man that she loved with her whole heart.

"I...I love them. I really love them. They have given me everything that I never dreamed that I could have." Yugi tightened his hand desperately on Yami's and reached the other towards Atem, who immediately intertwined their fingers and squeezed firmly. "T-They made me really happy and...and-"

Rebecca watched Yami muttered sweet nothings into Yugi's ear and Atem gently wiped away a tear that was forming in Yugi's eye. "I-I...I-"

"That's enough, Rebecca."

Everyone in the room jerked and looked towards the door that was left opened. A regal-looking old man wearing a suit stood there. The old man that Rebecca had met earlier was there as well.

"Professor Hopkins." Atem greeted. "And Sugoro-Ow!"

"It's grandpa." Sugoroku huffed, not regretting hitting Atem at the back of the head. "Get that into your head."

The man, known as Professor Hopkins, stepped forward and stood right in front of Rebecca. "...Rebecca. I'm disappointed in you."

"Grandpa..." Rebecca looked down in shame.

"She's just being young, Arthur." Sugoroku sighed out.

Arthur shook his head. "Young or not. One should know whether one is right or wrong." He looked down at Rebecca. "...I understand that you harbor a lot of love for Yugi. But don't you understand that you are causing him pain as well?"

"W-What? Pain?" Rebecca glanced back at Yugi, seeing the anguished look in Yugi's eyes. "I..."

Arthur smiled gently and laid a hand on Rebecca's head. "You are only 18 years old, Rebecca. There are still a lot of opportunities."

"...But, I love Yugi..."

Rebecca's grandfather merely smiled and patted her head. He nodded his head to Sugoroku and the others in the room. "As much as I want to stay and chat some more, I believe we should take our leave. I'm afraid that I left our baggage stranded somewhere at the airport when Rebecca suddenly disappeared on me. The only thing I could think of was calling the Kame game shop and rushing there. I apologize for the trouble."

Atem and Yami shook their head dismissively while Sugoroku waved him off. "It's fine, Arthur."

"Well, it's time to go, Rebecca." Arthur gave her a gentle push towards the door.

"I..." Rebecca glanced at Yugi and clenched her fists. Then she pointed at Atem and Yami, "I...I still love Yugi! I will do whatever it takes to get him back. Just you watch!" She ran out of the door, hiding her eyes away.

"Rebecca!" Arthur reached out a hand to stop her, but she was much faster. Arthur sighed, turning to the men Rebecca was condemning. "...She will come around soon." Sighs were his response. "I will get going now. I apologize again."

"I will take you to the airport." Sugoroku glanced at Yugi, who had not said a single word. "...I will see you at the game shop tomorrow, Yugi." A small nod from Yugi made him pat Yugi's shoulder.

"...It's about time we leave too." Katsuya called out, knowing that their hosts, especially Yugi, would like to be alone. He nodded when Atem and Yami gave looks of gratitude. "See you around."

Shizuka bowed at them and gave a sympathetic smile at Yugi. "We shall see you again, Yugi-san."

"...I'm sorry."

"Don't be." Shizuka smiled, following her brother out of the house.

"Ah, you are...?" Sugoroku asked while walking out to the door.

"Jounouchi Katsuya. This is my sister..." Was the last thing they heard before Yami closed the door, leaving the three of them alone.

"..." Yugi quickly got rid of the remaining tears in his eyes, feeling foolish and extremely childish for crying over something so trivial. "I-I will go clean up." However, before he could even take a step, Yugi found himself pinned to the wall, hands held high above his head by one hand, and a body pressed on his. Looking up, he saw maroon eyes staring at him intensely. "A-Atem...?"

"Tears of sadness don't suit you, little one." Those eyes narrowed. "You are remembering of the time that you felt unworthy, aren't you?" Atem watched Yugi turning his head away. "And this incident brought those feelings back."

"I-I'm just being stupid..." Yugi struggled slightly to free himself, but Atem held firm. He gave up and tried to lean further back to the wall, if it were possible. "...It's nothing to worry about-Mn!"

A tongue made its way into Yugi's mouth, slowly exploring every single corner. It then encouraged Yugi's tongue to join in, pressing in maliciously. Yugi, being held in a submissive position, had no choice but to obey every command, knees getting weak from the force Atem was exerting. Each time he broke the kiss trying to breathe, Atem would just claimed his lips again, determined not to allow the separation for more than one second. By the time the kiss ended, Yugi was grasping for air, body totally weakened.

Atem panted slightly, taking in the sight of Yugi. "...Whatever shall we do, Yami? Our little one is thinking of negative things again, thinking he does not deserve us."

Yami stood at one side, watching Atem's other hand roaming around Yugi's body, earning small sounds. He merely blinked at Atem's question, eyes trained on his young lover.

"Hm." Yugi shivered at the warm breath brushing against his ear. "I believe we should retire for the night, to our bedroom where we could...relax." The hand creeping up under his shirt told Yugi that they would be doing more then just relaxing in the bed. "Any objections, Yami?"

Yugi looked at Yami, thinking that Yami would probably hit Atem. He was surprised to find Yami walking forward and rested his chin on Atem's shoulder, never once breaking eye contact with Yugi. The shortest man made a breathless gasp when Yami turned his head and slowly licked Atem's ear, eyes still on Yugi.

"None." Yami leaned forward and bit the ear gently. Atem groaned at the sensation. "Bring him up." He made a loud sucking noise before releasing the abused ear. "I will join you in a while." Without another word, he left the both of them and walked off.

"'God of Persuasion' indeed." Atem licked his lips while watching Yami disappearing into the kitchen. "Not that I need any convincing." He looked back down at his trapped lover. "Yami has given me permission, Yugi."

A whimper escaped as Atem moved away from Yugi's body and pulled his hand, the one holding both of Yugi's wrists, guiding Yugi upstairs.

"For tonight," Atem glanced back to look at him.

Yugi hitched a breath at the seductive grin he was faced.

"We will make you forget about all these."

~To Be Continued~

* * *

 _Ahhh~! The relationship between those three just makes me to go 'Awwwww'._

 _So in this chapter, we see more information about our three protagonists. I found it fitting that each of them have their own titles, don't you think so? (…'Sex God' *Snicker crazily*)_

 _Things to note:_

 _Why no one reacted when Katsuya called Yugi and Atem without any honorifics while Shizuka reacted to Atem's call – It implies that Katsuya felt close enough to Yugi to drop honorifics and on first-name basis. It's socially accepted as Katsuya and Yugi are of the same age. Even though Yami is older, you have to agree that their conversation brought Katsuya and Yami a whole lot closer for Katsuya to drop any formalities. Further more, it simply shows that Katsuya is a friendly and easy-going guy, so even when talking with Atem, he dropped the honorifics (Not that Atem minded, being Egyptian and all) Dropping honorifics is generally reserved for a spouse, younger family members, social inferiors and very close friends. So the last point applies to Katsuya in this case(and because he's not the type to use honorifics). Shizuka, on the other hand, is a polite girl. So she uses honorifics when addressing Atem and was surprised when the gesture was not returned. The honorifics name-callings will change from time to time depending on who is calling who. For example, Yami don't use any honorifics when dealing with his employees. But he uses them on Sugoroku and Katsuya as seen._

 _This is rather confusing, so if you have any question about the use of honorifics, just PM me._

 _The ages – (Let's see if you readers have been reading *Grins* and also if you are interested in knowing) Rebecca and Katsuya's age has been revealed in this chapter. Yugi is of the same age as Katsuya. Yami was born in the same year as Yugi, but his birthday has past. The difference between Atem's and Yugi's age, is the difference between Katsuya's and Rebecca's age minus three. Shizuka would be that number older than Rebecca. Multiply Shizuka's age by four would be Sugoroku's age (Work out the math, my dears *thumbs up* give me answers in your reviews!)_

 _Onii-chan - Informal way of calling brother_

 _-san – A title of respect between equals of all ages_

 _Saheih – Correct in Arabic_

 ** _Omake:_**

 ** _~One day~_**

 _ **"So," Katsuya nudged Yugi. "How's it like to be the 'King of Games'?"**_

 _ **"Eh?" Yugi leaned his head to one side. "How it's like? Um..." He cupped his chin in thought. "…Not much, I guess. Like I said, it's just a title to me. It's not like it means anything…"**_

 _ **"Are you kidding me, Yugi?" Katsuya was taken aback. "Back then, when you were still known as the 'King of duelist', you were like a…a hero!" Hands gripped on Yugi's shoulder and shook it. "Every boys in my class were looking up to you, dreaming that they could have the title."**_

 _ **"J-Jounouchi-kun, l-let go." Yugi was getting dizzy from the shaking he was given. He quickly backed away from the blond man's hold and scratched the back of his head. "W-Well, that's nice…I guess."**_

 _ **"It only got worse when your title became 'King of Games'! I even heard that some rich game companies were looking for you to see if you could defeat their games. It was an uproar during that time, a lot of people were looking for you, trying to challenge you…ah, good old times…I remembered being so fired up."**_

 _ **"…What are you doing, Jounouchi-kun?" Yugi sweatdropped at Katsuya, who had his eyes closed, hands moving as though he was shuffling something.**_

 _ **A thought then came to Katsuya. "…Come to think of it," He glanced at Yugi. "Your face was never shown. I think that was the reason why people had such a hard time finding you. How did you manage to play during the tournaments? It was all in public."**_

 _ **"About that…" Yugi shifted. "I pleaded the ones hosting the tournaments not to reveal my face…Yami helped with that." Yugi blushed a little. "All my duels were held in a private place with cameras focused on the duel. So the audience would be able to see how I duel and how the duel goes, but not my own person. All my opponents were not able to see my face as the place the duels were at were very dark...well, dark enough not to let my features show."**_

 _ **"Why the secrecy?"**_

 _ **"I…it's a long story…"**_

 _ **"Hey, you don't need to tell me." Katsuya grinned at Yugi's downcast face. "And don't give such a face. If your lovers see you like this, I'm the one who is in danger."**_

 _ **Yugi gave a small laugh at Katsuya's mock-horrified face. "They won't go that far."**_

 _ **"Pfttt. You just have not seen it." Katsuya wagged his finger at Yugi. "They are really protective of you."**_

 _ **Yugi's cheek flushed and he fiddled his fingers shyly.**_

 _ **The blond man took the advantage to tease the other man. "'King of Games', huh? Are you the king of their hearts too?"**_

 _ **"J-Jounouchi-kun…!" Yugi shouted out in embarrassment, hiding his face behind his hands.**_

 _ **"Hmm, I like that metaphor." A voice purred into Yugi's ear.**_

 _ **"Gah!" Yugi jumped, or he would have if those arms surrounding his waist were not there.**_

 _ **"King of my heart…" Atem tasted those words. "…I would gladly serve you, my king, as long as you hold on to my heart."**_

 _ **Katsuya shivered at the mushiness while Yugi's blush went even redder. "Dude…I just felt the goose bumps…" Brown eyes then spotted another figure behind Atem. "Yami, stop him!"**_

 _ **Yami only chuckled and shook his head amusingly at Atem. But that only brought the attention to him.**_

 _ **"And you, shall be the god that I worship." Atem smiled dreamily at Yami. "Your every wish would be my command."**_

 _ **"Oh, good lords…" Katsuya twitched as Yami smacked Atem half-heartedly, a tint of pink appearing on his cheeks.**_

 _ **"You guys are just way too cheesy for your own good!"**_

 _Ahhhhhh~! Too cheesy indeed! Gyaaaaah~!_

 _That's all folks! Do leave your reviews!_


	3. Entering the daughter

_Marisay-chan writing here! It's time for a little seriousness in this story…_

 _The ages for everyone:_

 _Rebecca – 18, Katsuya – 23, Yugi – 23, Yami – 24, Atem – 25, Shizuka – 20, Sugoroku - 80_

 _Did you get them correct? Tell me if you wish to know more! ^.^_

 _To_ _ **TsunaMoe**_ _: No problem! Ah, bashing…that was actually something I was trying out too. But I found most of the authors writing bashings are…a little unrealistic. So I wish to show how bashing should be really done without actually bashing the character. (Sorry for sounding so arrogant *Bows in apology*) So to answer your question, yes, sometime in the further chapters._

 _To_ _ **YamiNoIcexIcuo**_ _: Glad to be of help and thank you so much! Are you talking about 'Don't Forget the Latte'? I love that story! Especially Yami! It's just so hard not to love him…and his pervertness *Grins widely* I really look forward to see your new chapter! (And your other stories too!)_

 _To everyone else who reviewed: Thank you for your support! Let's see if I can continue to make you guys feel the same way or even more with this chapter!_

 _Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters, only the story ^.^_

 _In Italics are thoughts_

 **In bold are flashbacks**

 _ **In bold and Italics are thoughts in flashbacks**_

 _Story Starts_

* * *

A pair of eyes slowly fluttered open.

Yami blinked a couple of times to clear the sleepiness away, wondering what had woken him up. Once his eyes had adjusted to the semi-darkness of the room, he glanced up and felt his eyes softening at the sight before him. Atem's sleeping figure was lying directly in front of him, seeing as both of them were lying on the bed on their sides, with an arm pillowing his own head and another hand draped across the blanket over Yami's waist. His body was moving according to his slow breathing. A soft smile lit up Yami's face. No matter how many times he saw it, Yami really loved the peaceful expressions of his lovers. Speaking of lovers...

Yami carefully placed a hand on the wrist that was on his waist and held it up gently, trying to minimize the disturbance as he rolled onto his back, his other hand reaching for his other significant partner. Crimson eyes blinked and did a double take when his hand came upon the sheets, not a body. Yami quickly sat up slightly with his elbow as a support and turned his head, seeing that the area on his right side was, indeed, empty.

"Hmm..." Atem blinked languidly, having been woken up by Yami's sudden movement. "What's wrong?"

"Aibo's not here." Yami let Atem's wrist go and gave a soft apology, feeling guilty for waking him up.

Atem smiled sleepily in forgiveness. "Yugi?" Atem flipped the switch of the table lamp on. Wincing at the sudden brightness, he leaned up and looked over Yami's body. "Huh? Where did he go? It's only..." He glanced behind and balked in surprise. A digital alarm clock beside the lamp greeted him with three red glaring numbers. "4.06 in the morning-!"

"What's going on? Aibo never wakes up this early." Yami pushed the blanket off him, getting ready to search for his missing partner. "Wh-"

Just then a scent slowly weaved into the room. Both men looked towards the slightly opened door and sniffed twice to ascertain the smell.

"...Pancakes?" Yami tilted his head, recognizing the smell. The pancakes smelt a little different than usual though. It smelt...burnt?

"Ah." Atem flopped his head back down on the pillow, eyes closed in amused defeat. "He's cooking..."

Yami heaved out a sigh, placing a hand on his forehead. "Aibo..."

"Well," A maroon eye peeked out. "Today's the day where we would go public with our relationship after all."

The ball, or meeting, as Seto liked to call it, was held today. However, it was being held at night. Yugi was either very excited to start cooking so early in the morning...or simply very nervous. The latter was instantaneously assumed.

"Everyone already knew about us." Yami glanced at Atem. "I told all of them the moment we got together."

"Hearing and seeing are two different things." Atem could not help grinning in silliness at Yami's admission. "Yugi knows that very well." The older man smoothed a thumb across Yami's lips, which was thinning in distaste at the memories of why Yugi would know about this. "...To add on, some of the ladies at your workplace seemed to think that you are...playing hard to get, and deemed whatever you said was false."

"I will never, never understand the mind of women." Yami growled in annoyance. "Isn't it enough to hear that I am in a relationship? They had seen me bought flowers, gifts, receiving phone calls from you both. Do I have to proclaim my love out loud, saying the how, why, when, where and what I love about you two, for them to know that I am not available? I am happily together with two men I love. Why can't they get that?"

"...That's exactly why."

"What-?" Yami blinked in confusion and surprise when Atem suddenly came too close, face directly in front of his. Yami stared for a second and asked, "...What are you doing?"

Atem went closer, lips just inches away from Yami's. "...How you manage to say those kind of things openly and yet become so shy when I confess, is beyond me." He pecked on those lips.

A slight hint of embarrassment showed on Yami's face. He turned his head away a little. "I...feel no need to hide the fact that I have two wonderful boyfriends."

"You are doing it again. That's why those ladies did not want to believe that you are in a relationship, with males to boot. Such a romantic man." Yami sighed blissfully when his lips were taken, gently and caringly. "Don't you know that ladies like romantic men?"

"Mnn..." Yami broke the kiss, a red streak went across his cheeks. "That's being romantic? I'm just telling the truth."

Atem smiled, "In a way, it's romantic." The smile turned dark. "...Turns me on a little."

Crimson eyes widened, inhaling sharply as Atem's head went below his while looking at him, seemingly going to kiss him. Their lips were about to connect again when-

 _KR-PRING_

Both of them jerked apart at the shattering sound and turned their heads towards the direction. They blinked for a moment before a short laugh escaped between them.

"I better go check on Aibo before he injures himself." Yami shifted and got out of the huge bed that could easily fit six people.

"All right." Atem groaned jokingly and lay back down. "I will just go back to sleep." He took a deep breath, stretching his muscles.

It was not on purpose, but Yami found his eyes traveling to that amazing body. It did not help that Atem always went to sleep without a shirt. He could see every ripple those muscles made whenever Atem moved and it looked so...Yami's tongue came out and wet his lips without his notice.

"Hm?" Atem noticed Yami not leaving the room and saw the look directed at him. Smiling seductively, Atem purred lowly, "What a lovely attention I have on me."

It snapped Yami out of his daze and a blush surfaced on the man's face at being caught.

"Don't worry." Atem ran a hand teasingly down his own chest. "I will wait for both of you to join me, and then we would-Oofmp!" A pillow smacked his face, cutting off whatever he was going to say next.

"And we would simply go back to sleep." Yami emphasized on the word 'sleep'. He turned, muttering a 'Pervert' under his breath, and left the room.

The pillow muffled all the snickers that followed.

* * *

 ** _Yami's troubles_**

* * *

 _~With Yugi, at the kitchen~_

Yugi winced at the mess he had made. The floor was covered with broken glasses, and water were spilled everywhere.

...

 _Ghaaaaaaaahhh! What am I doing?!_

Yugi clutched his head with his hands in exasperation, bending down to survey the mess. He knew that trying to cook breakfast at the state he was in was a hopeless case. But he still did it anyways, and at such a ridiculous hour too. Yugi was aware that cooking breakfast at three, Yugi groaned at the thought, in the morning was completely bizarre. However, sleep was the furthest thing in his mind. And so, he decided to cook.

 _Which is a complete disaster..._

So far, he had burnt five pancakes, nicked his fingers accidentally, tripped over his own legs and, now, dropping a glass of water on the floor. He hoped that he had not woken up his boyfriends.

"...All right, Yugi." Yugi placed a hand, covered with band-aids, on his forehead while the other hand rubbed his temple as he muttered to himself. "Get a grip of yourself. First, I need to clean this mess up. Then I will...I will...Argh...I will clean this up first." Without a second thought, he picked up a piece of broken glass with his bare hand. "Ow!"

The man pouted in frustration as his finger was once again wounded. He blew a yellow bang out of his face and raised the injured area to his mouth, not wishing to make matters worse by dripping blood all over the floor. However, before he could even put it in his mouth, a hand came out of nowhere, gripped his wrist and pulled it away.

Startled, Yugi looked up just in time to see Yami wrapping his mouth over his injured finger. "Y-Yami!"

The other man paid no concern and chose to focus on his task. Athemyst eyes widened as Yami sucked on his finger, sending tiny electrical shocks to Yugi's being. The shorter man actually whimpered when Yami refused to let his finger go when he tried to pull away, and suck harder instead.

"Y-Yami...wait..."

Gradually, the finger was released with a small pop. Crimson eyes surveyed the damage and narrowed, taking in the amount of band-aids used. "...Seems like I was late." Yami frowned in disapproval at his flushed boyfriend. "You should be more careful, Aibo."

"Ah-Um-Sorry..." Yugi hastily snatched his finger back, cradling it to his chest. Goodness. Someone really need to tell his oblivious boyfriend that doing such an action has consequences! Yugi tried to regulate his breathing, before glancing at Yami, hoping that his behavior was not noticed.

A vein popped on his head.

Apparently, it was noticed. But that was not what irritated Yugi. It was the fact that the not-so-oblivious Yami was leaning against the wall, head bowed down...trying to hide his laughter!

"You-" Yugi fumed, realizing what was going out. "You did that on purpose!" He huffed and turned his back to the laughing-out-loud Yami. Yugi then gasped when arms encircled his waist from behind and a kiss pressed onto his temple.

"Forgive me, Aibo." Yami muttered sweetly. "You are just so adorable that I can't help but tease you."

"...That's not exactly complimentary."

Yami chuckled at the adorable anger shown. "I apologize." He leaned the side of his head on Yugi's. "Although, I wonder if I should be amused or bemused." He further explained when Yugi made a confused sound. "Exactly why would you think of...whatever you are thinking of? You never used to mind me taking your fingers into my mouth."

Yugi was sure that having all the blood rushing to his face was not good for him.

Yami gave a deadpanned look at the silence. "I see Atem has been a bad influence on you." He sighed fondly, feeling the heat that was emitting from his boyfriend. "Anyways," The taller man glanced at the floor. "...What were you doing, Aibo?"

"Ah...cooking?"

"...So early in the morning?"

"...Un." Yugi bit his lip. "Sorry for waking you...I didn't mean to drop the glass."

"We, yes we, were awake before you dropped the glass." Yami took Yugi's hands into his, rubbing gently at each of the band-aids. "You were not there." He smiled at another apology given. "Nervous? About the ball?"

"...A little."

"You need not be, Aibo." He turned Yugi to face him. "You need not care what other people would say. What we do is our concern, not theirs. They can say whatever they want, but it would not change the fact that I love the ones that I have chosen to be at my side," He gently cupped those reddening cheeks. "And that's you and Atem."

A shy smile graced on Yugi's face. "...Has anyone told you that you are a romantic man, Yami?"

Yami blinked. "...A few minutes ago from Atem, yes. Speaking of which," He continued before Yugi could even ask. "Atem is waiting for us to go back to bed."

"Ah...I think I will stay here for a while. I need to clean this mess too-"

"Yugi." Yugi squealed as he was unceremoniously carried high up. Yami glanced up at him, showing that despite him not being a very huge man, he had a lot of strength as he held Yugi up with just one arm wrapped around Yugi's thighs. Startled, the smaller male quickly placed his hands on Yami's shoulders on reflex, looking down at Yami with wide eyes. "Bed, now."

"B-But, the mess-" Yugi knew that any argument was lost as Yami used his free hand to switch the kitchen light off. "I-I can walk. I must be really heavy, right?"

"The mess can be cleaned up once we had enough sleep." The older male responded, never pausing in his walking up the stairs. "And no, Aibo. You are rather light." He demonstrated that further by adjusting Yugi's position with just that one arm, his other arm swinging freely by his side as he walked.

"I'm not-" A yawn broke through Yugi's mouth. "-Tired."

Yami smirked a little, knowing that Yugi was currently pouting at having his own action contradicting his words. "Aibo, you need sleep. Now, don't argue, otherwise I will take drastic measures."

"D-Drastic measures?" It was rare that Yami would threaten him, harmless or not.

Yami purposely dragged out a silence, making the younger male even more nervous. Once they reached the bedroom door, Yami looked at Yugi and tilted his head.

"Like taking up Atem's suggestion."

He opened the door, revealing Atem sitting on the bed with a leg propped up and the blanket tossed near his feet. The tanned man had his eyes closed while he ran a hand through his hair, the light from the lamp making his bare chest glowed.

"Hm?" Atem lazily looked at them, looking seductive to the other two without even trying. "Can't sleep without the both of you. Glad that you managed to convince Yugi to come to bed, Yami." He then turned his attention to Yugi, frowning a little at those tense shoulders. "I can help you sleep if you can't, little one."

Unknown to Atem, due to the enticing picture he presented, as well as Yami's earlier 'threat', Yugi immediately interpreted Atem's words in a not-so-innocent way.

 _H-He can't be serious!_

Yugi jerked his head to Yami, hoping that he was wrong, that he had mistaken Atem's intention. The crimson-eyed man slid his eyes towards the younger without moving his head, not saying anything. Athemyst eyes widened even more, timidly looking at Atem. Meanwhile, the man on the bed was observing the interaction, and had to wonder why Yugi was staring scandalously at him.

"What?" Atem furrowed his eyebrows. "I mean, it is a bit early, but I can do it with no proble-"

"I-I will go to sleep...!" Yugi quickly squeaked out to Yami.

The corner of Yami's mouth curled up. "Good." Yami placed Yugi on the middle of bed and climbing in beside him, covering the both of them with the blanket. "Goodnight."

"G-Goodnight." Yugi hid his face with the blanket.

Atem stared down at the both of them for a while. Did he missed something? He was merely suggesting a massage...

* * *

 ** _Yami's troubles_**

* * *

 _~Several hours later, at a hallway~_

"Flowers, checked. Decorations, checked. Food, checked." A boy no older than 18 was pacing around with a clipboard on hand. "Everything seems to be in order. Last thing on the list...Nii-sama." The boy looked up after he opened a door and made a disgruntled noise when he saw no one in the room upon entering.

A man wearing sunglasses and a suit appeared near the doorway. "Set- Ah. Mokuba-sama, everything has been organized."

"Not everything." The boy, Mokuba, pointed a finger at the room he had just entered. "Where's Nii-sama?"

"Um..." The man sweatdropped, not knowing what to say, seeing as he himself was actually expecting the mentioned brother to be in the room instead of Mokuba.

Mokuba ran a hand through his black hair in resignation. "Find my brother and do it quick. We still need to prepare the suit for Nii-sama."

 _Which he probably won't wear._

"Understood." The man bowed, sweatdropping as though he had heard Mobuba's thoughts.

"Ah, one more thing, Isono."

Isono paused and turned back to face the boy.

The boy gave a small smirk to the man. "Make sure to inform me when the trio arrived."

Isono quirked a smile, and quickly maintained his professionalism when speaking to Mokuba. "Yes, Mokuba-sama."

 _~With the missing brother~_

A cell phone was slammed down on the bed in frustration. Seto placed an arm over his eyes, sighing loudly through his nose as he lay on the bed. A growl formed when his phone rang...again. He swore under his breath. If it was that ridiculous girl again, he would-

The insistent ringing of his phone pierced his ears. Scowling out, he gripped his phone and pressed the button almost violently.

"Listen, if you call me one more time, I will have you terminated!" Seto snarled into the phone.

"... _I believe this is the first time I hear you lose your composure._ "

Seto jerked at the unexpected voice and sighed out, eyes closed in half relief, half annoyance. "Why are you calling this early? The...meeting is not until tonight."

A chuckle was heard. " _I thought I would call to check if everything was doing all right._ " There was a short pause. "... _She's been calling you._ " It was a statement, not a question.

"If this continues, I don't care if she is the daughter of the Wongs. I will end her life."

Laughter erupted over the phone. " _What was she calling for anyways?_ "

"For your number." Seto deadpanned.

" _..._ " Seto could practically feel the killer intent coming from the phone. " _...Kaiba, I would hate to end our relationship should you have given my number away._ "

Seto smirked, "I'm tempted. Just so to stop her calling me."

" _Kaiba._ "

"Don't be so uptight." The boss ignored the ' _Coming from you?_ ' from the phone. "I would never feed my cousin to the wolf. Not exactly the way to repay Yugi for his help."

" _Should I be touched?_ " Yami's voice held a teasing tone. " _But thank you, Kaiba. I own you one._ "

"You own me more than that. She's been messaging and calling me since five in the morning, sprouting nonsense about needing you to escort her to the...meeting. All while you were sleeping away blissfully." Seto frowned at the snort he heard from Yami. "What is so funny?"

" _Actually,_ " Yami's amused voice spoke. " _Contrary to what you think, I woke up at around four this morning. Someone was really nervous about the ball and ended up hurting themselves._ " Seto heard a ' _Yami!_ ' at the background and accurately deduced that he was talking about Yugi. " _Also, if she calls again, you may tell her that I am already escorting my lovers to the ball._ "

"Tell her yourself. I am not your personal message boy."

"... _Ignore her calls then._ " Yami told him with a sigh. " _Anyways, there's a chance we would arrive late to the mansion. We are going to circle around the town to calm Aibo down first-_ " A conversation of ' _I-I don't need it._ ' , ' _Whatever you say, Aibo_.' , ' _I can calm him down faster, right, little one?_ ', followed by a squeak and a pained cry, had Seto casting his eyes upwards. _"-And I was hoping that I could get something along the way...A present. Would you like me to help you get a present as well?_ "

Seto closed his eyes at that question. He reopened them and glanced to the side. Seeing a small present wrapped neatly at a table, he turned his attention back to the phone. "No need."

"... _Very well. We shall see you later, Kaiba._ "

Seto hung up without saying anything and placed the phone back down. He stared at the present sitting innocently at the table. A present would normally made the person receiving it, happy...it was unfortunate that both his and Yami's present would do no such things, and yet it was unavoidable.

He just hoped that nothing bad would happen tonight.

 _KNOCK KNOCK_

" _Seto-sama? Are you in there?_ " Isono's voice came through the door. " _Everything has been prepared. Mokuba-sama said the last thing we need is to get the suit for you._ "

Forget tonight. He had to be able to get through the day first. Maybe a little pretense could help him-

His phone chose that moment to ring, ruining his chances of pretending he was not in the room. Giving a silent curse, he looked to see who was calling...and cursed some more. The earlier annoyance was back.

" _Umm...Seto-sama?_ " Isono's hesitant voice did nothing to soothe Seto even after his phone stopped ringing.

Facing a deranged woman or facing the abomination clothing that was called a suit...? Tough choice.

" _Nii-sama! I know you are in there! Isono said he heard your phone. You need to try the suit on to see if it fits!_ " Seto's phone rang at the same time as Mokuba started banging on the door.

Perhaps a third option would be better.

For some reason, his window looked extremely appealing at the moment.

* * *

 ** _Yami's troubles_**

* * *

 _~At a car, near evening~_

"...I am not nervous."

Blinks were given as a response.

"I'm just...excited. Un. Excited."

Smiles started appearing.

"..." Athemyst eyes became slightly watery. "...I'm not fooling anyone, am I?"

Atem howled in laughter at the back seat beside Yugi while Yami chuckled at the driver seat. All of them were in formal wear, getting ready to head to the Kaiba Mansion for the ball after a ride around town. The one seating beside the teary-eyed man leaned forward and held his face with one hand, trying to stifle his laughs to a manageable level at the tired frown Yugi was sporting.

"Ah...Why is our little one so cute?" Atem gazed affectionately at the mentioned man once he regained his composure.

"Stop calling me cute." Came the muttered reply.

"What should I call you then?" Atem asked in humor. "Beautiful? Gorgeous? Divine? Or maybe just," He came close and whispered into Yugi's ear. "Simply perfect."

Yami shook his head and pulled the car over. Switching off the engine, he turned around, looking at Atem's sly look and Yugi's flushed face. "I'm going to get the present that I ordered before we went for a ride. I shouldn't take long, so behave." He directed the last word to Atem.

"I'm not an exhibitionist." Atem smiled innocently.

"..." Yami did not dignify that with a response. Atem knew that his car had only one-way windows installed. "I will be right back, Aibo." He assured Yugi, who was flushing up even more.

Maroon eyes twinkled in amusement, watching Yami leaving the car and gave a warning look as he walked into a store, knowing that Atem would be able to see it despite him only seeing his own reflection on the window. Not that he had to, Atem had no plans to do anything. He was only trying to...

"Calm yourself, little one." A tanned hand reached for a pale one and squeezed comfortingly. "It's only a social gathering. You don't even have to interact with any of them."

"I-I know. I just..." Yugi trailed off, not wishing to continue. However, a tug on his hand urged him on. "I just...don't want to disappoint both of you. I'm not good with such big gatherings. I have never been to a ball too. I heard that there was dancing as well and-" A mouth quickly cut him off.

The kiss lasted for several seconds before being slowly broken off by Atem. "You would never disappoint either of us. Just having you beside us is more than we could ask for." Atem whispered, lips hovering just inches away from Yugi's. "And all you have to do is be yourself."

Yugi looked into Atem eyes and smiled lightly. "...Sorry. It must be really frustrating to hear me sound so insecure all the time."

"It is rather frustrating." Atem said bluntly. "But not for the reason you think of. We are not frustrated that you are insecure, but rather of the reason why you became so insecure." Atem narrowed his eyes. "Because of him."

Yugi shivered at the dark hatred visible in Atem's voice.

"...We are also frustrated that you can't see." Atem shifted one of Yugi's bangs to the side. At the questioning look, he continued, "That you can't see what a wonderful person you are. So kind-hearted, so selfless, so beautiful...I don't know about Yami, but, sometimes, I feel as though I am the one not deserving of you, either of you."

Athemyst eyes widened at the unexpected confession. Atem never once showed a single hint that he was insecure. He was always so confident...

"Because I love you." Atem answered the unasked question. "Because no matter how selfish I felt, no matter how undeserving I feel," Atem stared into Yugi's eyes. "I'd rather not live than live my life without the both of you."

Stunned, Yugi only stared back. Slowly, those words sunk in and made tears welled up. Worried, Atem raised a hand to wipe the tears away. Yugi quickly took the hand, shook his head and pressed a heartfelt kiss to the man before him. Though surprised, Atem returned the kiss, wanting to give as much as Yugi was giving to him now.

"It's not just Yami." Yugi smiled after their kiss ended. "However did I manage to catch the eyes of two romantic men?"

"By being you." Atem teased back, knowing that he had dispelled most of the doubts in Yugi with that one confession of his. There are still some uncertainties lingering around, but that was all right. Such fears do not just disappear in one day, no matter how much he wanted it to be so. They had all the time in the world to help with that. For now, Atem was just glad that his younger boyfriend was finally relaxing.

The car door opened with Yami peeking in. Taking in the scene, the man blinked and smiled. He did not question why Atem was smiling gratefully or why Yugi was suddenly not looking that nervous anymore. Yami simply got in the car and started the engine. Looking at the rear mirror, he asked one simple question,

"Ready for the ball?"

* * *

 ** _Yami's troubles_**

* * *

 _~Night, Kaiba Mansion ~_

The Kaiba family was not known as rich for nothing. Even though it was a simple gathering between business associates, everything that was displayed screamed anything but simple. Red carpet on the floor, bushes and small trees were neatly trimmed to form shapes of a strange dragon with different poses, torches that created a mystifying atmosphere to lead the guests and the humongous chandelier that hung in the middle of the ballroom.

Yugi swallowed.

That was why he chose to work at his grandfather's game shop instead of taking offers made by rich companies when he became the 'King of Games'. This whole situation was simply unnerving.

Yami pressed a kiss to Yugi's cheek to ease the slight tension. They strolled down the red carpet that led to the mansion, taking in the extravagant decorations. Yami walked in the middle, offering an arm for Yugi to hold on his right, and holding hands with Atem on his left.

"For someone who does not like balls, Seto sure likes to show that he could throw one with no effort." Atem glanced around with undisguised awe, wishing that he had brought his camera to capture this dream-like place.

"Don't let him hear you say that." Yami chuckled. "You will receive a rather nasty look."

Isono was seen pressing a finger on his ear and saying something before he greeted the three of them at the front door of the mansion by bowing. "Yami-sama, Jibade-sama and Muto-sama. Welcome to Kaiba Mansion. May I have your invitations, please?"

Yami released Atem's hand, reached inside his blazer and pulled out three letters. Isono took the letters and nodded. He then pushed open those grand doors that guarded the mansion and gestured the three guests to follow him.

Raising an eyebrow at Isono leaving his place when there could be more potential guests, Yami asked as they followed the bodyguard, "Are we the last to arrive?"

"Yes, Yami-sama. The rest of the guests are already at the ballroom."

Atem whistled, "Fashionably late, aren't we?"

"We are going to get stared at..." Yugi realized with a soft gulp.

"Hush, you." Yami chided at the amused Atem, and turned to Yugi. "We are going to get stared at either way, Aibo." He straightened his back, making sure that Yugi's hand was placed firmly on his elbow and took Atem's hand back into his left hand. "Might as well give them a show."

"The Kaiba in you is peeking out, Yami." Maroon eyes lit up in humor while Yugi giggled at the uncharacteristic arrogance heard in Yami's voice.

"Hush." Was what they heard from Yami before Isono opened the door to reveal the dimly lit ballroom that was filled with guests.

The ballroom was filled with chatters, but the moment the door opened, it ceased. One could almost hear a pin drop. Most of the guests were stunned to see such good-looking men, standing there at though they owned the place. But what really caught their attention was how they presented themselves. It would not be surprising if they were children or females, but all three of them were grown men, and by holding each other in such an intimate way, it told everyone that they were more than just friends.

Yami continued forward without acknowledging any of the attention, and, Yami smirked inwardly in pride, his lovers followed his example. Atem had schooled his features into an unusual politeness yet filled with confidence, while Yugi smiled slightly, not a hint of nervousness in sight. Maybe he should bring his boyfriends to his workplace more often, the crushed looks on the ladies faces were rather satisfying.

"Hey! Welcome to Kaiba Mansion!" Mokuba came up to them with a wide grin, knowing exactly what Yami was trying to do. "It's been a while since you came here, Yami."

"Mokuba." Yami greeted with a nod. "It has, hasn't it?"

"Hello, Mokuba-kun." Yugi smiled, relaxing further at seeing a familiar face. "How have you been?"

"Just fantastic. Even better now that you are here." Mokuba leaned in and whispered to them. "And no more kidnapping cases, of course." He winked.

The kidnapping case a few years back caused a huge uproar among the Kaibas. The intention was to hold Mokuba hostage for ransom and was threatening to kill him if the money were not delivered at a certain time. At the time when the crime occurred, Yugi happened to witness it and was also taken by force. After being captured, Yugi managed to initiate a game to the kidnappers to drag some time out and leading the Kaiba family to their kidnapped location at the same time. Needless to say, he won just as help arrived.

Mokuba could still remember that time like it was yesterday. Yugi certainly deserved the title 'King of Games'. The game initiated was a variation of Russian roulette and dealing with toxic liquids, seeing as they were at an abandoned warehouse that had multiple chemicals left behind. It was one of the most trilling and dreaded game Mokuba had ever came across; he had no idea how many times he had thought Yugi would die. When Atem and Yami found out about it, they blew up, yelling at Yugi for his recklessness. It turned into a huge argument that eventually led to the first confession they gave Yugi.

Come to think of it, both Yugi and him never did ask about what happened to the kidnappers. Then again, it was probably better not to ask. The rage that crossed on Seto's, Atem's and Yami's face back then was not a pretty sight.

"Mokuba-kun...!" Yugi winced at the remainder, afraid to look at his older lovers. To his relief, Atem took the joke in stride and laughed. Yami merely sighed.

"Welcome to my mansion."

The entire guests turned their heads to the stage, where Seto stood.

"Ah." Mokuba twitched in annoyance, observing the long white sleeveless coat his brother wore. "He didn't wear the suit we prepared..."

"Seto in a suit?" Atem arched his eyebrows high in disbelief. "Now that's a sight I want to see." The group's laughter quiet down as Seto continued his speech.

"As the last of the guests has finally arrived," Seto narrowed his eyes at the group, all of whom were giving tiny smiles and grins. "I won't bother wasting everybody's time giving useless speeches. This is the yearly social gathering between Kaiba Corporation and all the partnership it has bond along the way. There will be no funny business here." Seto first met eyes with Yami, who blinked at the eye contact, and shifted his eyes to one corner, seemingly locking gaze with someone Yami was not able to see in the sea of guests. "That's all. Enjoy your stay at Kaiba Mansion."

With that, the dimmed room suddenly brightened up and music flowed into the room. Soon, light chattering spread and some couples danced to the music under the huge chandelier that lit up the room.

"Feeling better, Aibo?" Yami murmured, watching some of the couples dancing with Yugi at his side, standing at one side of the ballroom. Mokuba had gone to find his brother during this time.

Yugi brought himself closer to Yami, holding Yami's right arm with both of his hands. "As long as you two are with me." He closed his eyes to block the stares coming from some of the guests and rested his head against Yami's shoulder.

The soft smile that Yami had, seemed to surprise those seeing it. Some of the ladies gossiped among themselves while giving not-too-subtle looks to the loving pair.

A wine glass suddenly appearing caught the two men's attention. Atem offered the drink to Yami, clinking it with his own glass and taking a sip.

"...You do realize I can't drink, right?" Yami deadpanned, staring at his own reflection in the red liquid. "I am the one driving."

"Please." Atem swirled his wine glass. "I know you have an immunity to alcohol. You won't get drunk, you would just become a bit more..." Maroon eyes narrowed mischievously. "...Aggressive." He dragged out the word.

Both Yami and Yugi flushed at the meaning. Yami immediately gave the glass to Yugi, who took it with his right hand, and glared at the disappointed sigh Atem had the nerve to give.

"Yami~" A lady with two buns on her hair and wearing a cheongsam came up to them in a sassy manner, her hands on her hips. "I have been trying to reach you all morning! Who are these two?"

All three males blinked at the same time. Atem took a deep breath and went to stand beside Yugi, eyes trained on the sudden intruder. Yugi took a sip of his wine glass, staring at her.

"Miss Wong." Yami tilted his head.

"It's Vivian." Vivian pouted slightly. "How many times do I have to tell you?"

Atem had to resist the urge to roll his eyes while Yugi twitched a little.

"Miss Wong," Yami totally ignored what she had just said and gestured to his lovers. "May I introduce you to my boyfriends, Atem and Yugi." The two mentioned men gave a slight bow in acknowledgment.

Several gasps indicated that they had some eavesdroppers. Yami felt like face-palming himself. Even when it was shown blatantly to their face, they still could not believe it? Women.

Vivian, on the other hand, had her lips thinned. "Boyfriends?"

"Yes." Yami continued without batting an eye. "I have mentioned them several times whenever we conversed."

The gossips around them grew louder.

"It was true after all..."

"Inishie-sama really did have two boyfriends!"

"Ohh...Why is it always the good-looking ones?"

All of those mutterings were ignored as Yami and Vivian stared at each other. Atem gently clinked his wine of glass with Yugi's, seemingly oblivious to everything as he encouraged Yugi to drink and disregard whatever that was going on.

However, the next sentence that came from Vivian made those façade disappear.

"So they are queers? How disgusting."

~To Be Continued~

* * *

 _Ahhhh, I really love writing about those three…so romantic indeed! How I wish to have such a lover too…_

 _This chapter mainly focused on our protagonists' relationship. As you can see, there are quite an amount of insecurities present. Some of which were addressed and some were not. These are all due to the past. Remember, the three of them knew each other for a long time and yet they only got together for about a year (Shown in Chapter one), One of the reason was because of Yugi's rejection (Shown in Chapter two), another reason was this 'him' (Shown in this chapter) More will be known in further chapters_

 _So, who so hates Vivian now? *wriggle eyebrows* You might hate her even more at the next chapter. And did anyone noticed a hint of YGOTAS? See if you can find them~_

 _Things to note:_

 _The situation with the trio at the first scene, where Yugi misinterpreted Atem's words – In case you are wondering, Yami had cunningly manipulate Yugi's way of thinking into something sexual, even though he knew Atem had really no such intention, just so to get Yugi to sleep. ('God of Persuasion' indeed ^^)_

 _-sama – A respectful version of –san, mainly towards people of higher status_

 _Nii-sama - Respectful way of calling brother_

 _The game during the kidnapping – I don't know if any of you readers are interested in knowing, but I will write down how the game was played:_

 _A single gun was used. Using one bullet, players were allowed to either aim the gun at a huge barrel, which was filled with toxic liquid, or at their own temple. The player's turn ends when the bullet was fired and the next player will continue. So a maximum of six shots will be given to each player at each turn. The rules are: the player would only be allowed to point at the barrel for two shots, the rest have to be pointed at their own temple. The player will lose if they shot open the barrel, allowing the toxic liquid to escape (The barrel was a really big one, and all the shots were aimed at the bottom, so if it burst open by the bullets, the chance of escaping was rather low as the liquid would cover up the entire floor), or if they shot themselves dead._

 _In case you are wondering, the kidnappers shot open the barrel. So no one was killed._

 _Cheongsam – A body-hugging one-piece Chinese dress for woman_

 _ **Omake:**_

 _ **~Before Mokuba went off~**_

 _ **"Why does Kaiba-kun hate suits so much?" Yugi asked as the four of them moved to a wall at the side of the ballroom.**_

 _ **Both Yami and Mokuba looked at each other, blinked, turned back to Yugi, and shrugged at the same time.**_

 _ **"I…don't believe that he hates them…" Yami trailed off.**_

 _ **"He burned the suit we gave him as a birthday present a few years ago." Mokuba injected with a blank look.**_

 _ **"Ah…" Yami recalled how Seto viciously threw those clothes into a fireplace. "Perhaps it was the color…?"**_

 _ **"Nii-sama would never care for such trivial things." Mokuba cupped his chin. "…Then again, Nii-sama seemed to prefer white to black…"**_

 _ **"He wears black shirt and black pants." Yami nodded in Seto's direction. And it was true. Seto was wearing a long sleeve black shirt underneath the white coat, along with black pants.**_

 _ **"Um…fashion?" Mokuba shrugged helplessly. "Nii-sama hated suits for as long as I had known."**_

 _ **The cousin shook his head. "Not true. Kaiba had worn suits before, and was always wearing them."**_

 _ **Mokuba frowned. "…That was when father was still around…"**_

 _ **"…" Yami lowered his head. "I still believe the color is the cause."**_

 _ **Mokuba had to smile at Yami for avoiding that topic and played along "I had a white suit prepared for him. As you can see, he still did not wear it."**_

 _ **"Not purple…?"**_

 _ **"A purple suit?" Mokuba balked in slight disgust. "That's…"**_

 _ **"I have seen him wearing all purple before…not a suit though." Yami shifted his eyes in thought. "…At least, his coat was purple. He was wearing black underneath."**_

 _ **"Nii-sama does like wearing coats, doesn't he?" The teenage boy eyed the white coat that was on his brother now. "Especially those long flowing ones."**_

 _ **"In my opinion," Yami was also staring at the same coat. "He simply likes having something flowing behind him."**_

 _ **"Makes Nii-sama feel like a king." Mokuba grinned cheekily.**_

 _ **Yami smirked. "Perhaps you are right, Mokuba." He lowered his voice. "See his coat right now? I heard that he actually sewed it himself to make it seemed like it was floating around his legs."**_

 _ **"Ehhh? Really? Really?" Mokuba squirted his eyes at the coat. "Maybe we should sew one for his birthday this year."**_

 _ **"Hmm."**_

 _ **The cousins conversation was cut off by a soft chuckle. Looking at the source, they found Yugi hiding his laughs behind his free hand, and Atem's shoulders were shaking terribly. Yami and Mokuba pinked a little and coughed into their hands, realizing that they had rambled on while talking about their cousin and brother.**_

 _ **"D-Do the two of you always gossip about Seto that way?" Atem tried to hold in his laughs. "And about his clothes, no less?"**_

 _ **"Y-You have a problem with it?" Mokuba folded his arms, hiding his embarrassment.**_

 _ **Yami looked away, muttering under his breath. "We are not gossiping..."**_

 _ **Yugi removed his hand and smiled widely. "Of course not, Mokuba-kun, Yami. It's nothing to be embarrassed about. Kaiba-kun is really lucky to have you two."**_

 _ **Atem and Yugi grinned widely at the sight of Yami and Mokuba clearing their throats, not looking at them in the eyes.**_

 _ **"Atem, Yugi." Mokuba pouted at them. "Whatever you heard from the conversation just now-"**_

 _ **"Shall stay here." Yami finished.**_

 _ **"Aww…There goes the perfect blackmail material." Atem sighed in mock-disappointment.**_

 _ **A few seconds later, Atem went to get some drinks, rubbing at his sides tenderly. While it was fun to tease, Atem had to remember who the targets of his tease were. Getting pinched painfully by two people at the same time was absolutely NOT fun at all.**_

 _Ahahaha! Imagine Yami gossiping!_

 _That's all folks! Do leave a review!_


	4. And the mysterious man

_Marisay-chan scribbling here! The omakes seems to gather more attention than the story itself *Laughs*_

 _To_ _ **Chaos Twin of Destruction**_ _: I know, right? *Wide grin* Ah, get ready for more hate then, Vivian is about to do something worse. Not quite sure what you are insulting her with, but I think I got the gist of it *Sweatdrop*_

 _To_ _ **crazy and random child**_ _: Oh, not at all! And thank you so much, I'm glad that you have enjoyed the story so far *bows*_

 _Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters, only the story ^.^_

 _In Italics are thoughts_

 **In bold are flashbacks**

 _ **In bold and Italics are thoughts in flashbacks**_

 _Story Starts_

* * *

"So they are queers? How disgusting."

Yami quickly placed a hand over Yugi's when he felt the slight tightening on his arm. Maroon eyes had darkened, narrowing dangerously at the woman before them. The silence that came became very uncomfortable; eavesdroppers quickly evacuate the area, leaving only the four of them there.

"..." Yami stared into Vivian's eyes. "...I prefer the term: 'Homosexual'. I apologize if that is the way you feel. But it would not change the fact that these two here are my loves. So I would appreciate it if you do not discriminate them, Miss Wong."

Atem frowned at the politeness that Yami was still giving to this...this woman. He glanced sharply to Yami, about to say something, when he saw how tightly Yami's hands were clenching, even Yugi could feel the tension on the arm he was holding onto. It made Atem remembered whom they were dealing with. They could not afford to cause a scene here, especially with Madam Wong, even if she was unaware of the situation, in the vicinity.

"Come now, Yami." Vivian smiled, a finger pressed on her cheek to portray a look of innocence. "Surely you are not saying that you are into males. You are-"

"That is exactly what I am saying." Yami interrupted, anger boiling deep within him. He could not bring himself to care that he might have anger the woman, seeing how Vivian twitched at being interrupted. She should consider herself lucky that she was a female, otherwise she would have ended up like that one man who dared to ridicule his bond with his lovers.

"You didn't even talk about-"

"I did."

"You are not-"

"I am."

A small snarl appeared on Vivian's face at every interruption. "You can do better."

"Indeed." Yami agreed, making Vivian smiled in triumph at Atem and Yugi, until he continued his sentence. "I can do better spending the rest of the evening with my lovers, than trying to explain why I am with them."

The lady gritted her teeth at the hidden insult. 'You are not worth my time' was what Yami was trying to tell her. Being a businessman and woman, both Yami and Vivian knew about subtle insults, hidden messages, and how to incorporate them into their conversation. Atem caught the insult as well, for he was smirking gleefully.

Vivian glared at the smug look that Atem had, before turning her attention back to Yami. She pursed her lips in thought, eyebrows furrowing. Then, all those expression fell away, and a pleased smile took its place.

Atem and Yami tensed at the sudden change, getting a really bad feeling.

"Oh, Yami~" Vivian cooed. "You should be more gentlemanly towards me. It wouldn't do you any good to...upset me."

Yami frowned, letting out a small sound to show his confusion.

"After all, it wouldn't be good for your reputation if some...scandal was attached to your name." Vivian checked her polished nails and lavished careful attention on them. "It would be bad for business too."

"...Scandal?" Warning bells were ringing in Yami's mind.

None of them noticed a pale hand holding a wine glass moving downwards and, using the ring and little finger, pressed onto a pocket.

The woman gave a haughty grin. "Well, the media are always very interested in, how should I put this, the intimate lifestyle of people with high social status." She made a thoughtful look. "Surely you, being part of the Kaiba family, would definitely interest them?"

"I don't like where this is going..." Atem muttered.

"...What are you insinuating, Miss Wong?"

Vivian smiled winningly. "It would be top news for a while, should you be known because of a black mark."

Atem blinked, not getting what Vivian was threatening Yami with. But apparently, Yami did. The pale man dropped all pretense of politeness and openly glared at the one threatening him.

"You are going to accuse me of raping you?!"

"W-Wha-!" Atem dropped his jaw at the ridiculous notion.

"I was actually going for affair." Vivian shrugged uncaringly. "But with how you came in with these two? I guess rape would be better."

"And what, makes you think it will work? You have no evidence. Even if you have, nobody will believe you. Everyone knew I would rather jump off the building than touch you." Yami growled out.

"Silly Yami~" Vivian wagged her finger in a mocking way. "It doesn't matter if anyone believes it. All that matters is that a seed of doubt is planted. I'm sure your little...lovers would not want attention on their families now, would they? And like I said before, it would be bad for business. I wondered how Kaiba Corporation would defend themselves? To add on, since I am the victim, I will have to tell mother, and do you know what happens if mother finds out about this?" Vivian giggled at the rage within Yami's eyes. "That's right. Mother would be heartbroken. To know that her husband dreams to work with the Kaiba family ended up being her daughter's downfall..." Tears welled up in her eyes, showing that she could put up a great act if necessary. "Whatever would she do next?"

"You..." Atem balled up his hands.

The lady then provocatively ran a finger down Yami's chest. "You don't want to be a murderer, do you, Yami?"

Yami jerked backwards to remove that offensive finger and glared murderously at her, too enraged to say anything.

"Now, now. All this can be prevented, Yami." She extended a hand out, waiting for Yami to take it. "Escort me for the rest of the evening, and announce me as your fiancée." Vivian smiled wryly at the other two men present. "I will take care of everything else that you caused when you entered with these two."

"You disgusting woman." Atem snarled out. Knowing her, she would probably accuse him of unprovoked assault if he attacked her now.

"Careful." Vivian lifted her head in a show of superiority. "I may...accidentally forget about everything else and tell the media of my sexual assault." She smiled widely at Yami. "This is one game I won't lose. Now, shall we, Yami?" Her hand still outstretched.

However, before anyone could react, the base of a wine glass came forward and pushed Vivian's hand away.

"What the-" Vivian was surprised at the appearance of the object.

"A game you won't lose?" A figure stepped forward, covering Yami's body slightly with their own body. "Then, you wouldn't be opposed to playing a game with me, do you?" Athemyst eyes lit up in determination.

"A-Aibo?" Yami stared in shock-surprise at his sudden daring move. Atem, too, was stunned, as he looked towards Yugi, who had remained quiet until now.

"A game?" Vivian scoffed dismissively. "Why on earth would I play a game with a puny brat like you? I have better things to do. Come, Yami."

"Of course." Yugi spoke before she could even touch Yami. "I understand. It wouldn't be good to lose to me after all. Imagine what kind of damage your reputation would get."

Vivian narrowed her eyes, irked at the way the brat assumed that she would automatically lose. "Confident, are we? All right. I will play your game." She scanned her opponent for a while and smirked. "However, just playing normally is a bore, how about we up the stakes?"

Yugi's eyes glinted. He tilted his head in a questioning gesture.

"If you lose, Yami will come with me immediately and you," She deviously pointed at Yugi. "Will tell everyone in this ballroom that you are a slut and was trying to get Yami simply for his money only."

"What?! Yugi-"

Atem was cut off by Yugi's acceptance. "Very well. And if I win," Yugi motioned to her with his wine glass. "You will stop all these nonsense and leave us alone, won't you?"

"Sure." She readily agreed, secretly crossing her fingers behind her.

"Aibo-" Yami paused at the confident smile Yugi had.

Yugi gave a small squeeze on Yami's arm to reassure him. "To make sure you will uphold your words..." Yugi released his hand from Yami's arm and reached into his pocket. Everyone watched as he pulled out a cell phone and showed it to them.

"What about the phone?" Vivian raised an eyebrow in disinterest.

The shortest male flipped his cell phone opened and pressed a few buttons. The smug look on Vivian's face faded away as the conversation from earlier between Yami and her were replayed.

"Oh." Atem started grinning in pleasant surprise while Vivian fumed.

"Y-You recorded the whole thing!"

"..." Yugi flipped his phone shut and gave it to Yami, who took it while staring at Yugi in awe. "Shall we play the game? As a lady, I shall let you state the game of your choosing."

Vivian glowered at Yugi before taking a deep breath. She then looked around for a suitable game to play. Her eyes caught the wine glass that Yugi was holding onto. Seeing the half-full glass and how slowly Yugi was sipping on them, she gave a satisfied look and said, "Wine drinking."

"Wine drinking?"

Vivian turned around and walked towards one of the servers, gaining back the eavesdroppers and some of the other guests' attention, and picked up a wine glass from them. Walking back to the three males, she presented her glass, which was almost equal to Yugi's in water level.

"Ah." Yugi acknowledged the challenge. "Whoever cleared their drinks first, wins?"

"That's right. But," Vivian held up a finger. "We are not allowed to use our mouths."

"How are you going to finish the drinks then?" Atem asked in absurd confusion.

Not bothering to answer or getting Yugi's confirmation, Vivian snapped her fingers and said, "Let's begin!"

The moment she snapped her fingers, a man, seemingly to be her bodyguard, appeared and took the wine glass and started downing it. Vivian laughed haughtily and turned to Yugi, not wishing to miss the look of defeat on his face. After all, a brat like him would never even thought of asking someone else to-

Her eyes widened in disbelief.

Yugi's glass was already emptied, with only a few wet patches to show that it was filled before. However, her bodyguard was still drinking the wine.

"W-Wha- How?!" Vivian gaped at the empty glass. "How did you-?!"

Yugi glanced towards Atem, who proudly showed everyone his own wine glass, which was filled to the brim.

 **Not bothering to answer or getting Yugi's confirmation, Vivian snapped her fingers and said, "Let's begin!"**

 **The moment the game began, Yugi moved his wine glass to Atem's and proceeded to fill Atem's half-full wine glass to the brim. The glass was emptied even before the bodyguard was halfway finished.**

"Y-You cheated!"

"You never said anything about pouring the drink away, just that we had to clear the drink and without using our mouths." Yugi tilted his wine glass upside down and licked up a single drop that came flowing down. Atem and Yami were forced to swallow at the sensual sight. "I win."

"This is a swindle! You are nothing but a sl-" Vivian reconsidered her words when Yami started playing with Yugi's phone.

"Wong-san," Yugi did not bother flinching at the heated glare he received. "As stated in our deal, I would appreciate if you leave me and my boyfriends alone." He replaced his left hand on Yami's arm and sighed in content, fiddling with the stem of the wine glass with his right hand.

With no choice, and due to the fact that lots of people were watching, Vivian hissed, giving a warning, "This is not over." And left in a huff, with her bodyguard fumbling after her. Some of the eavesdroppers quickly parted ways when she came their way, while others, whom were watching the confrontation, shook their heads and glanced after her disapprovingly.

Yugi let out a sigh of relief once she was gone. "Thank goodness..." He then inhaled sharply, feeling a mouth besides his ear.

"Little one..." Atem breathed out, humming in delight at the shiver he caused. "You have no idea how arousing it is to see you like that. The way you won the game with little effort and the way you licked that droplet of liquid..." Yugi gasped softly at the possessive grip that landed on his left hip. "I know I told you that you would not disappoint us, but this is..." Atem's eyes were smoldering. "...If only we are in a room not filled with people, I would have shown you just how much I love it when you are brimming with confidence."

"Calm yourself, Atem." Yami whispered, nudging Atem to pour back Yugi's share of wine. After which, he gently lifted Yugi's right hand with his left and took a small sip from the wine glass the hand was holding. "You did wonderfully, Aibo. I must say that it was quite pleasant to see you like that, even if it's surprising."

Yugi shuffled his feet. "...No one threatens my lovers and gets away with it." He averted his eyes in slight shame for speaking that way. He tried pulling his hand away, but Yami held it firmly.

"Careful, Aibo. You don't want to drop the glass." Yami spoke softly, his gaze exceptionally warm. "...It would be rather enjoyable to see you like this all the time."

Atem chuckled, causing Yugi to bite his lip at the sound echoing in his ear. "Don't sugarcoat it, Yami. Just admit that it was rather hot watching Yugi like that. Making you want to," Yugi blushed at Atem stroking his hip with a thumb. "Show him how much you love it."

Yugi turned even redder when Yami did not reply, only taking another sip of the wine and licked his lip slightly while staring yearningly at Yugi. The youngest male squeezed Yami's arm involuntarily, feeling his shyness taking over as he half-buried his face into Yami's arm. The weight of their gaze upon him were strong enough to weaken his body.

A clapping of hands broke up the moment. The three of them looked up to see a man walking towards them with an amused look. He had a dice earring, a red-black bandanna across his forehead and had a line drawn halfway down his right eye. The three lovers separated to greet this new guest.

"I had always wanted to see someone taking her down." He bowed flourishingly towards Yugi. "I thank you for making this the highlight of my day."

"Ah...um..." Yugi bowed back hesitantly, unsure what to make out of this man.

"Hm?" That man blinked and threw his head back, laughing heartily. "You were not joking about him, were you, Yami-kun? He was so poised earlier while playing a game, and now he's like a timid little mouse!"

Yami gave an exasperated smile and gestured a hand towards him for his lovers. "Atem, Yugi, this is Otogi Ryuji. One of the partners of Kaiba Corporation."

"Jibade Atem, Atem will do." Atem nodded and shook hands with the man. "Nice to meet you."

"It's nice to finally meet the pharaoh." Ryuji grinned at the surprised look. "Yami-kun here talks about the two of you all the time. While he was always very cool and collected, the moment he speaks about you two, his aura changes. I swear I could see hearts popping out from him sometimes."

Yami pinked and frowned at the man, who laughed and merely waved him off.

"And you must be Muto Yugi." Ryuji nodded approvingly at Yugi. "As expected of your title. No game is too hard for you to win, huh, Muto-san?"

"Just call me Yugi." Yugi smiled bashfully and handed his glass for Yami to hold to shake Ryuji's hand. What he did not expect, was for Ryuji to take his right hand, and placed a kiss on the back of it.

Yugi squeaked.

Atem raised his eyebrows.

Yami sighed through his nose with a wry look.

The moment Ryuji let go of Yugi's hand, Yugi almost jumped away from him and quickly hid behind Yami, eyes peeking out in alarm. Ryuji blinked his confused green eyes and stared at the hidden figure. He turned to Yami with an eyebrow raised.

"Is he always so timid around others?"

Meanwhile, Atem blinked. He was not sure what to think of the situation. Yami never mentioned anyone being so accepting towards them. Yugi, on the other hand, was simply shocked that he was kissed. It was only on the hand and very platonic, but the male never had any other males doing that to him besides his boyfriends.

Yami shook his head in exasperation. "Tell me, Otogi. How would you react if a male suddenly kissed your hand?"

"Would have kick them in the face. I am no lady." Ryuji replied cheekily without missing a beat. "But, pardon if I offend you, Muto-san is the 'lady' in the relationship, right? I mean..." He stared pointedly at the hand on Yami's arm. "It's only right of me to treat the lady with utmost respect."

"L-Lady..." Yugi repeated in slight displeasure. He was NOT a lady!

"He's not the only one." Atem muttered under his breath.

A foot struck out and discreetly stomped on Atem's foot.

"A simple handshake would have sufficed." Yami told Ryuji, with Yugi sweatdropping at the background, and Atem dropping his head towards the floor, fingers twitching as if to restraint himself from yelling out in pain. "Aibo is not comfortable with it either."

"My apologies then." Ryuji smiled, scratching his head. "By the way, I thought you should know, Yami-kun. But I have managed to gain Pegasus's approval for the game."

"Oh? Congratulations." Yami nodded with a small smile.

Ryuji nodded back in satisfaction. "Thanks. 'Dungeon Dice Monsters', or DDM, will soon launch once we make some more adjustments!"

" 'Dungeon Dice Monsters'?" The gamer within Yugi peeked out in curiosity.

Ryuji grinned. "I should get you to try out the game, Yugi-san. DDM is a game I had invented based on Duel Monsters, except with dice instead of cards. It's not the only game I'd created, but it is the one that I placed lots of time and effort to it. Duel Monsters had such a big impact when it first came out, it became an inspiration for DDM. Pegasus was also very impressed with it, saying that it has a lot of potential to go very far." He placed his hands on his hips. "Once we made improvements on it, I will be placing the game in my store; Black Clown."

"Black Clown?" Atem frowned. "Why does that sound so familiar...?" Not noticing Yugi looking at him in alarm, Atem rubbed his chin in thought. "Black Clown...Black Clown...Wait a-" The tanned man dropped his hand and stared ridiculously at Ryuji. "Your shop was the one that almost caused Yugi and Yugi's grandfather to-Mmpff!"

Yami and Ryuji looked on in confusion, finding the scene of Yugi pressing a hand on Atem's mouth frantically a little...well, strange. Yugi strained a smile towards them and muttered a quick 'Excuse us for a second', and pulled Atem aside.

"What was that all about?" Ryuji stared at the two figures. Atem and Yugi seemed to be having an intense conversation, judging by the faces they made while talking.

Yami blinked slowly, shifting his eyes to his lovers and back to Ryuji. Filled with questions, he decided to make an assumption, "...Have I told you that Yugi's family owns the Kame game shop?"

"Kame game shop...?" The game inventor thought about it for quite some time.

Yami knew he was in the right direction when a look of recognition passed Ryuji's face and was followed by a stricken look. He watched as the man before him turned to look at Yugi, who just happened to look back at Ryuji. Yugi smiled awkwardly, causing Ryuji to grimace and bowed his head in regret.

When the other two finally joined them, the three of them were faced with Yami's stare, looking at each of them suspiciously. "Anyone care to fill me in?"

Atem huffed. "There was once a disturbance at Kame game shop."

"And I was not told of this because...?" Crimson eyes narrowed.

"I was going to tell you, but Yugi-"

"It was just a misunderstanding! Nothing much." Yugi quickly placated Yami as well as to stop Atem from continuing. He then turned to Ryuji, smiling reassuringly, "It's all in the past now. Besides, it has nothing to do with Ryuji-san."

"Misunderstanding? Nothing much?" Atem repeated with a frown. "Yugi. That crazy man tried to take your grandfather and you down to get rid of competition!"

"Atem...!" Yugi cringed. He was totally avoiding Yami's gaze, which could be felt burning into him. "It was that man, not Ryuji-san."

"Still-!"

"Atem-kun's right." All attention turned to the inventor. Ryuji sighed sadly, "Although I was not there when it happened, it is still my responsibility. I will accept any punishment you wish to give." Ryuji allowed the corner of his mouth to curl up. "I was very surprised that you did not pursue the matter and did not even inform the police about this. I wanted to apologize to you in person, but I received a mail saying not to get close to the Kame game shop." Here, Yugi shot an accusing look to Atem, who merely folded his arms. "Respecting that, I send the apology through mail...and also because I was too ashamed to face the owners. So, really, thank you for not calling the police and sending my father to jail."

"Y-Your father?" Atem and Yugi gaped at the revelation.

Ryuji chuckled bitterly, "You will know him as Mr. Clown...That old man was probably too bent on revenge to even introduce himself."

"And he is now...?" Atem frowned.

"Mental institute. Threw him there myself." Ryuji smiled wryly. "Can't believe him...getting revenge over a lost game...probably doesn't even care if his son survives or not. But, whatever happens, he's still my father. So I thank you once again."

"..." Yugi bit his lip at the saddened look on Ryuji's face. Even Atem felt sympathetic to the inventor.

A soft clearing of throat broke the silence that came.

Yami bored his eyes at the three of them. "Enough with the gloomy atmosphere. A ball is meant to be enjoyable."

"Y-You are not angry?" Yugi weakly asked. "I didn't mean to keep it from you. I just didn't want to make a scene with it..."

Yami stared for a while before sighing softly. "As you stated, it's all in the past. I'm just glad you are all right and Otogi had nothing to do with this." Yami patted Ryuji's shoulder and turned back to his lovers. "...How come Atem knew about this and not me?"

"Stopped that crazy man in his tracks before he could do any harm with that knife." Atem answered before Yugi could. For his effort, Yugi pinched him on the side in retaliation, making Atem hissed in pain.

The crimson-eyed man shot a 'We will talk about this later' look and placed the wine glass on a table nearby. "...I need details. However, for now," Yugi cried out slightly when he was pulled towards the dance floor by Yami. "For keeping me in the dark, your punishment, Aibo," He brought Yugi towards his chest, his left hand went to Yugi's back and his right hand holding onto Yugi's left. In turn, Yugi instinctively placed his right hand on Yami's shoulder. "Would be to dance with me."

Red blossomed out. "B-But...Yami, you know I don-" He was whisked away before he could even complete his argument.

Ryuji laughed, watching with the rest of the guests, as the two men danced. "Exactly how is that punishment?"

"Yugi doesn't know how to dance." Atem rubbed his sore side. "But it will be forgotten soon enough if Yami has his way."

True enough, Yugi relaxed the longer Yami held onto him. The older man was seen whispering something constantly to the younger, gaining smiles, laughs and blushes as they swayed together at the center of the dance floor. The two of them were oblivious to the stares, completely immersed with each other.

* * *

 _ **Yami's troubles part 2**_

* * *

The night went on without anymore incident. Occasionally, Yami would parade his boyfriends around, not matter how much he denied it, introducing them to business partners of Kaiba Corporation, while ignoring Vivian, who was pulling her handkerchief with her teeth, glaring at them. Other than that, guests would either see the three of them standing at one corner talking, or two of them dancing while the third watched contently.

Soon, the night came to a close.

"Yami." Seto came up to them with a purposeful stride.

Yami excused the three of them from a female guest they were talking to. The lady giggled and curtsied before leaving, a little too excited to share her talks about the three men with her friends. Atem and Yugi heaved out a sigh of relief while Yami shook his head, and turned to his cousin. "Yes, Kaiba?"

The brunet man did not say anything, only jerking his head to the side of the ballroom, where a woman stood regally at a garden outside the ballroom. Understanding lit up, and upon receiving nods from his lovers, Yami followed Kaiba to the woman.

"Madam Wong." Yami bowed once they reached her. Seto did the same.

"Ah, Inishie-kun, Kaiba-kun." Madam Wong smiled warmly, though both men were able to tell that the smile was a little forced, and stretched her right hand. "I apologize for bothering the both of you."

"Never." Yami denied, taking her hand and placed a small kiss on the back of it, before standing aside to allow Seto the same procedure. "I hope you have been well."

The faltering smile on her face caused the cousins to look at each other in concern. However, they said nothing and simply stood on either side of her, seemingly trying to provide support to the mentally frail lady.

Madam Wong shook her head, taking a deep breath. She opened her mouth a few times, only to close them back up. The woman closed her eyes in self-loathing for showing her weakness, and quickly bent her head to hide her expression. Seto diverted his eyes to the side, meeting with crimson ones. Then, at the same time, both pairs of eyes closed in resignation, before both of them reached inside their blazers to pull out a small present.

"Madam Wong," Each displaying regret in their eyes, the two men presented their presents to the lady. "...Happy anniversary."

A choked sob came as a response, but Yami and Seto remained firm, still offering their presents, and waited patiently as Madam Wong tried to regain her composure.

A handkerchief made its appearance. "...I'm sorry." Tears continuously ran down the already tear-stained cheeks. "Thank you so much for your kindness. May I...open them?"

Seto wordlessly placed his present on the opened palm, and watched the ribbon and wrapper falling to the ground to reveal a box.

A pendant, with a black and white jewelry, was slowly pulled out of the box, glinting against the moonlight.

"I believe they called this the Yin-Yang pendant, said to symbolize perfect balance." Seto explained as Madam Wong examined the pendant. "It reminded me of Mr. Wong and you. Yin representing him and Yang representing you..."

Madam Wong smiled ruefully, understanding what Seto was trying to tell her. The reason why Seto chose this gift was to show that she, without her husband at her side, was spiraling downwards. And if it were to continue...

"May I?" She reached for Yami's present, which was immediately given up to her.

"My apologies that I could not find the perfect present for you. It was..." Yami trailed off.

Madam Wong nodded to show that she understood. It was probably hard for them to present the gift, let alone buying them in the first place.

"However..."

Another box was revealed underneath the wrapper. When the lid was opened, music came out, echoing into the night.

"...I heard that Mr Wong loved music boxes."

A drop of water landed inside the box.

"Yes...yes..." Madam Wong cradled both the gifts to her chest. "He loves them...Thank you...Thank you..."

"Thank you so much..."

* * *

 _ **Yami's troubles part 2**_

* * *

A hand slowly closed the lid of the music box that was placed on the bench, cutting off the music. The Yin-Yang pendant glittered demurely against the chest. A handkerchief then slowly made its way down onto a lap.

Madam Wong gave one last rueful smile at both of the gifts before turning her attention to the two men standing in front of her. Both men had their head bowed slightly in order to give the woman some privacy. Her black eyes shone with gratitude as she sat at the bench. Her husband had really made a fine choice in working with these two men.

"I apologize that the two of you had to witness such an unsightly scene of me." Her smile came back at the denial coming from Seto and Yami. "Our company is really proud to stand beside yours."

Seto closed his eyes in satisfaction while Yami gave a small smile.

"However," Madam Wong's eyes went half-lidded. "The same can't be said to you, am I right?"

"...Madam Wong?" Yami questioned confusingly, glancing at Seto, who was furrowing his eyebrows. "...Did we give you that kind of impression?"

"No." The woman assured the both of them. "Please. There's no need for any kind of pretense here." Seeing that the confusion was still there, she explained further, "I may not have mingle with the business even since my husband..." She trailed off, eyes getting hazy from memories. She shook her head and continued, "But, rumors will always spread like wild fire, no matter how well kept they are. There will be no escaping my ears..."

She closed her eyes for a few seconds and opened them, staring straight into the men's eyes.

"...Especially those concerning my daughter's."

Yami immediately dropped his head, glaring furiously towards the ground when he recalled the earlier incident with the said daughter. Seto shifted his gaze to his cousin, noticing how tightly Yami was clenching his hands.

The mother nodded, almost despairing, looking at Yami. "She had done something earlier, didn't she?" Yami looked up at her warily, wondering if she had heard what Vivian had said. "I've seen her going up to you and your partners...I was about to intervene when I saw the conversation going sour...but it seemed that one of your partners took care of things."

Seto narrowed his eyes suspiciously at Yami when the crimson-eyed man coughed into his hand and was giving a rather silly smile. He, too, had saw Vivian confronted the three of them. He did not miss the way Yami had glared at the daughter, or Atem's scowling face. However, when he saw Yugi taking over, surprising as that was, he merely blinked and went on entertaining his guests. Although Vivian was trouble, he had other troubles to deal with.

Yami cleared his throat and wiped off his smile. "I apologize if my partner had offended you with his action."

"None at all." Madam Wong stood up, bringing the music box and handkerchief into her hands. "Whatever it was, I'm sure my daughter had it coming."

Jerking slightly, both Seto and Yami were not expecting for the woman to slander her own daughter in front of them.

Madam Wong paid no attention to that, only turning her back to them. "The reason why I asked the both of you out here was to make my position clear."

Crimson and blue eyes glanced at each other.

Madam Wong took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

"Today…shall be the last you will ever had to see me regarding business."

Eyes went wide.

"My husband worked hard to maintain the company. It was during those times he was the happiest." Fingers played with the Yin-Yang pendant. "...Those times has long past. He has-" She shook her head, reprimanding herself inwardly. "Had moved on."

Madam Wong looked behind her. "...And so shall I. Kaiba-kun, Inishie-kun."

The mentioned people straightened their backs in attention.

Madam Wong stared at them. "To flourish or to destroy..." Her black eyes became hard. "It shall be in your hands now."

The boss of Kaiba Corporation could only stare while the co-boss hitched his breath at the implication.

"But," Her eyes softened. "I hope that we could still get together for old time sake?"

The brunet man nodded without hesitation.

"It would be our honor, Madam Wong." Yami confirmed, a hint of wonder in his voice.

"Call me Mei Fong from now on." Mei Fong smiled one last time before turning back, leaving without a backward glance.

Seto and Yami bowed in respect as she left.

"...She will be missed." Yami looked fondly at the direction Mei Fong had went.

Seto hummed. "On the plus side, it seemed we no longer had to deal with a certain devil."

The smirk on Yami's face spoke of future chaos.

* * *

 _ **Yami's troubles part 2**_

* * *

"This is not good..." Mokuba commented blankly, his dark slate blue eyes following a certain figure across the ballroom.

"Mokuba-sama, that man is heading towards Jibade-sama and-"

"I have eyes, Isono." Mokuba interrupted, eyes still pinning on the man heading towards his cousin's boyfriends. "...This is not good. Why is he approaching them? Yami is not even with them."

"U-Um. What should we do, Mokuba-sama?"

"You," Mokuba pointed a finger at the bodyguard. "Need to find Nii-sama and Yami. I am going to find out what is going on." The teen quickly went after the man.

"Yes, Mokuba-sama." Isono saluted.

* * *

 _ **Yami's troubles part 2**_

* * *

Yugi unconsciously leaned into Atem as a man with black-teal hair approached. Atem wrapped an arm around his young lover, giving a polite smile at the approaching man despite feeling a little tense himself. Both Yugi and him were merely guests, so they left most of the talking to Yami, and since he was not around, well...

The man smiled warmly, seeing the wariness he had caused with his presence. "Please, do not be alarmed. I merely wish to introduce myself."

Yugi relaxed a little and let out a smile.

"You have a beautiful smile." Aqua eyes gazed on Yugi.

The recipient of the praise blushed and ducked his head while muttering a small 'T-Thank you'.

A maroon eye twitched. Perhaps it would be imperative for Atem to start knowing about the business associates in Kaiba Corporation. While he was glad that homosexuality were not that openly scorned here, with the exception of Vivian's episode, was it really necessary for this person to come onto Yugi like this? He had noticed the looks while Yami was parading them around, some of which were aiming at Yugi, with most of them having the intent of discrimination. Compared to the 'King of Games', Atem and Yami held themselves in a way that caused them to be unapproachable. If it were not for Yami's or his presence, he was sure that Yugi would have been harassed.

However, either Atem's presence alone was not enough to warn this person off, or that he was just extremely bold. Atem cleared his throat to bring those aqua eyes away from his love.

The man blinked and glanced at Atem, making a show of scanning him up and down. Tilting his head, the man raised his eyebrows in an amused way. "The co-boss of Kaiba Corporation is really blessed to have such a beauty and an enthralling man by his side."

...Now that was unexpected. Beauty, with no doubt, was definitely referring to Yugi. Enthralling man...? Atem blinked a couple of times, his mouth opening and closing.

The man chuckled at the flustered looks he received. "Let me introduce myself, my name is-"

"Sir Timaeus." Mokuba came up from behind, his lips thinning.

"Oh?" Timaeus stood aside, allowing Mokuba to pass by him and standing slightly in front of Atem and Yugi. "Ah. Mokuba, right? It's a pleasure to meet you."

A strain smile appeared on Mokuba's face. "Pleasure. Are you looking for Yami? Or perhaps my brother?"

"Oh, no." Timaeus shook his head slowly. "I'm sure I could meet with either of them at a later time. Right now," He gestured to the men Mokuba was trying to protect. "I simply wish to learn more about these two."

"I'm sure there are other interesting people out there in this ballroom." Mokuba injected.

"Mokuba-kun...?" Yugi whispered, realizing that Mokuba was trying to get this person away from them. But why?

Timaeus caught on to that as well, for he smiled a little dejectedly and took a step back. "You seemed to think that I came here with ill intentions. However, allow me to assure you that nothing of that sort will happen."

"It would be really hard for you to do anything with everyone watching." The teen bluntly told him, his frown becoming more visible. Mokuba then lowered his voice, "I know exactly whom you are working for."

"..." Aqua eyes closed in resignation. "It seems our reputation have become really bad, have they not?" Timaeus glanced behind him and looked at a man with light-blue hair. "But please, believe me when I say that I shall not bring any harm to any of you." He turned back to the other three, eyes narrowing determinedly. "I swear that upon my life."

"...I'm sure that an introduction won't do any damage." Yugi tried to dispel the tensed silence. "I am-"

"No!" Mokuba quickly cut in. "You don't understand, Yugi! He's-damn it!" The teen hit himself for saying out Yugi's name when he was trying to prevent it in the first place.

"You do realize that I will find out one way or the other, right? They were being introduced to everyone in the ballroom." Timaeus smiled wryly.

"Look," Mokuba folded his arms. "Just what do you want? I'm sorry if I am going beyond rude, but I was specifically told by Nii-sama not to let any of you close to them." He gestured towards Atem and Yugi.

"Seto did?" Atem blinked in surprise. What do you know? No matter how much he tried to hide it, Seto did cared for them.

"As I had said earlier, nothing." Timaeus let out a soft sigh, almost bordering on frustration. "I only wish to know these two better and," He directed a smile to Yugi. "Maybe have a dance or two. I will do no more than that."

He then extended a hand out to Yugi.

"May I?"

* * *

 _ **Yami's troubles part 2**_

* * *

"I noticed that you were trying to warn me about something earlier." Yami tilted his head as the cousins headed back to the ballroom.

"Vivian is the least of our problems." Seto glanced at him. "You know about the new company that just recently bonded with Kaiba Corporation?"

"Paradius?" Yami furrowed his eyebrow. "Other than they are selling game products and mostly jewelries...as well as a product they are, now, developing called 'Orichalcos', nothing else. They have a rather huge base of consumers too." A frown appeared. "Shady activities?"

A nod made the frown deepened. "We bonded with them because they had a large base of consumers. They even had control of other companies, or at least, parts of other companies from all over the world that we did not partner up with. It was invaluable to have them with us. We could spread our products to places we could not before..." Seto paused just before entering back to the ballroom, causing Yami to stop as well. "There was nothing suspicious about them at first...However, words started leaking for the past few days, that they were dealing with unauthorized activities."

"Unauthorized activities...?"

Seto twitched his eyes, staring into the ballroom. "...Human trafficking."

Yami inhaled sharply.

"It's only part of it." Seto murmured. "Illegal drugs, kidnappings, and I even heard that they were assassinating people to...harvest their organs. The chief executive officer (CEO) of Paradius, Dartz, denied everything...and it was then hushed up. Only a selected few still know about this." He turned to Yami, who was looking quite sick at the information. "The reason I brought this up is because people have been disappearing lately. Children, adults, elderly...mostly homeless people or people with no other relatives, but disappearing nevertheless...and because he suddenly had three new people at his side."

"Three new people?"

"I only managed to get their names: Critias, Hermos and..." He jerked his head into the ballroom. "Timaeus...who is dancing with Yugi now."

Yami frantically searched the dance floor, seeing that Yugi was indeed dancing with an unknown man.

"S-Seto-sama! Yami-sama! I-I finally found you!" Isono came running up to them, panting slightly. "One of the Paradius man just went up to Jibade-sama and Muto-sama and now he's-"

"We have eyes, Isono." Seto cut in, making the bodyguard gawked at being told the same thing twice. "...Mokuba could not stop him, then." He looked to the side, finding his brother standing next to Atem, looking quite agitated while speaking to Atem.

"Kaiba..."

The boss knew what Yami wanted. "It's all rumors though, there's simply no proof. It could not even be them...I rather take precautions."

Yami nodded stiffly and quickly headed towards Atem and Mokuba, with Seto and Isono following behind.

* * *

 _ **Yami's troubles part 2**_

* * *

"So, how long have you known Inishie Yami?" Timaeus twirled Yugi around, before bringing him back to his chest. "You and your other partner...Atem, was it? The news of the both of you spread through the business roughly a year ago."

"U-Um..." Yugi hesitated slightly. Since he helped out in the game shop, he knew some form of business tactics as well, but not enough to deal with people here. He was unsure, wondering if telling his information would jeopardize Seto or Yami in some way.

However, Timaeus knew what he was thinking of. He smiled, "You don't need to tell me anything. I was making a conversation to ease up the tension. You seemed really nervous."

"S-Sorry." Yugi unconsciously tightened his hand around Timaeus'. He took a sharp breath when Timaeus pulled him closer. A squeak escaped at the close proximity. What was Timaeus doing! He knew he have lovers, so why-

"You are going to trip if you continue to be so." Oh gods...! Why was Timaeus whispering in his ear?! "I just wanted to make sure that does not happen."

"P-Please don't do that...A-Atem and Yami...!"

"Ah." Timaeus lifted his eyes above Yugi's head. "Of course, your lovers. If looks were weapons, I'm sure I would have been stabbed several times."

Yugi looked behind and saw that his lovers, along with the Kaiba brothers, were staring furiously at them...well, mostly directed at Timaeus. It made Yugi so uncomfortable that he just wanted to stop this dance and go back to the safety of his boyfriends' arms. But his dance partner had other ideas.

Timaeus maneuvered the both of them deeper into the crowd of dancing couples, turning to ensure that Yugi would not be able to see any familiar faces. It was done so elegantly that it made Yugi wondered how long his dance partner had been dancing.

"The song is coming to an end..." Timaeus observed. Yugi was able to detect a hint of remorse in his voice. "I must thank you for taking the risks to dance with me. It's been a while since I felt this free...however backhanded it was."

"Eh?" Yugi looked up at the other man in question.

 _Been a while since he felt that free? Backhanded? Wha-?_

"I'm sorry..." The murmur caught Yugi by surprise. Then, for a split second, Timaeus' face twisted into a look of despair, but it disappeared so fast that Yugi thought it was just a trick of his eyes.

The song ended with the soft hum of a violin. Couples that had been dancing separated and thanked their partner with a curtsy or bow. A round of applause echoed across the ballroom for that was the last dance and brought the ball to an end. However, all those became background noises as Timaeus and Yugi froze in their ending pose.

Aqua eyes stared into Athemyst eyes.

Yugi felt a lump in his throat.

"Timaeus."

And just like that, the spell broke. Timaeus leaned back and turned his head. A man with reddish-brown hair stood there, his yellow eyes darting between Timaeus and Yugi.

"Hermos." Timaeus slowly released his hold of Yugi. "Is something the matter?"

"...The ball has ended." Hermos kept looking between the both of them. "It's almost time to leave and...Dartz wants to speak to you."

"..." Timaeus stared for a while before turning his attention back to Yugi. He bowed gracefully, a hand over his heart. "Thank you for this lovely dance. I shall escort you back to your lovers."

"Ah..." Yugi nodded awkwardly, taking the hand that was extended to him. He could not help but noticed Hermos giving a very controlled sigh through his nose as they walked past him.

 _What was that all about?_

The moment Timaeus offered Yugi's hand back to his loves, Atem immediately snatched the hand out of Timaeus' grasp, bringing Yugi to his side and tightened an arm around his waist. Yami did not react like Atem, but he did grabbed one of Yugi's hands and rubbed his thumb on the back of it, as if trying to reassure himself.

Yugi glanced at his lovers. Their action just screamed protectiveness. What had happened during the time he was dancing with Timaeus?

Despite the rudeness, Timaeus was not offended. He stood with his head held high, facing the hostile stares bravely. He tilted his head, "Thank you for allowing this dance. And thank you for hosting this marvelous event, Chairman Kaiba."

Seto gave a short 'Hm' in acknowledgement. The rest stayed silent, watching Timaeus intently.

Pausing for a few seconds, Timaeus looked like he wanted to say something but seemed to have changed his mind at the last moment. Giving one last look at Yugi, Timaeus closed his eyes, nodded at them, and took his leave.

"Are you all right, Yugi?" Atem questioned the moment Timaeus was out of hearing range. "Did he do anything? He suddenly took you further away from us. Although we could still see you, we could have missed something. He might have-"

"I'm fine!" Yugi quickly cut in, looking shocked at all the accusations. "We just danced that's all..."

 **Aqua eyes stared into Athemyst eyes.**

 **Yugi felt a lump in his throat.**

"..." Yugi averted his eyes when he remembered that moment. There was a...feeling when Timaeus looked at him...a feeling he was unsure of. He shook his head. He would analyze the feeling at a later time. Right now, he need to convince his lovers that nothing had happened to him.

"I need to see all the guests off." Seto started walking away as the lovers fussed over Yugi. "You may leave. Come, Mokuba."

"Yes, Nii-sama."

"He made it sound as though we are only allowed to leave with his permission." Atem raised an eyebrow at Seto's and Mokuba's leaving figure, Isono trailing behind them.

"Are you really all right, Aibo?" Yami furrowed his eyebrow in concern. "He really did nothing?"

"Yes..." It was Yugi's turn to furrow his brows. "Why are all of you acting this way?"

Yami and Atem looked at each other. A frown appeared on both of them at the reason, Atem having heard everything from Mokuba.

Yami looked towards the entrance, just in time to see Seto talking with four men, Timaeus, Hermos, a man with blond hair and another man whom Timaeus was looking at earlier. He sighed. "We will talk more at home. Right now, let's just enjoy the rest of the evening without any more events. I have good news and bad news regarding the Wongs."

"Oh, how did it go?" Yugi asked sympathetically.

"When we are home." Yami reminded Yugi, tapping his nose with a finger.

"Ehhh...Don't tease by withholding it!" Yugi pouted. "You can't just say something like that and expect us to wait!"

"You have yet to tell me about the incident at Kame game shop."

"Urgh..."

"I will be more than happy to tell!" Atem raised a hand to volunteer himself.

"Atem!"

Yami chuckled at the sight of his boyfriends, one in exasperation while the other trying, and failing, to look innocent. At least the stress of all the events that occurred during the ball were gone.

For now.

~To Be Continued~

* * *

 _This chapter had a lot of hidden messages within conversations, so if you are confused, it will explain further below._

 _I have almost zero knowledge about businesses, so…*shrug* Did you love the game being played? I loved how Yugi became so confident when he played it! (Gyahhhh~!) And there are a lot of new characters here! I really enjoyed writing about them, and hoped that you like them as well!_

 _Regarding the disappearing people…is actually a real life situation happening at my place and neighboring countries. Some elderly found actually ended up dead. Be careful when you go out alone, dear readers._

 _Things to note:_

 _Vivian's threats – As mentioned, a business man/woman knew how to incorporate hidden messages or insults in their conversation. It's not very clear, but there ARE implications that Vivian will accuse Yami of rape. Key words are 'Scandal', 'Intimate' and 'Black mark'. When she said 'You don't want to be a murderer, do you, Yami?', it was implied that Mei Fong will commit suicide should she know about the false rape._

 _History between Ryuji and Yugi – Long story short, Ryuji's father tried to kill Sugoroku over a lost game as well as to get rid of competition, Yugi got caught in the crossfire, and Atem managed to arrived in time to save them._

 _The presents – Seto and Yami made it a tradition to present Mei Fong with gifts as she always wanted to meet them during her wedding/death anniversary.(Yes, her husband died exactly at their anniversary) It's painful because it reminded her of her dead husband, and yet, gifts must be given to maintain a good relationship between business partners._

 _The situation with Mei Fong and Seto and Yami – Basically, Mei Fong had given them permission to do whatever they want with the Wong company; to continue working with it, or to toss it aside without needing to face her.('To flourish or to destroy') She's washing her hands off from everything and anything regarding the Wong Company, telling Seto and Yami that she will take care of herself when she said "…And so shall I.". In other words, Vivian attempts to bring her mother in, in forms of blackmails, will no longer have any effects in the future._

 _Madam Wong – Everybody knows her as Madam Wong. Her name, Mei Fong, means 'Beautiful Wind' in Chinese_

' _Lady' Yugi – As mentioned before, Atem was seen as the 'Man' of the house, and with how Yugi came in with Yami (Holding an offered hand, something only females do), it was automatically assumed by everyone that Yugi was the receiver.(His petite figure not helping at all) So, he was treated as such by Ryuji and Timaeus. Yami was not seen as such mainly because he is the co-boss, and everyone respect/fear him.(Although, between you and me, he is just as much of a receiver as Yugi *Gets hit on the head* Atem hinted it too) With this, Timaeus only focused on Yugi when asking about dancing. It would just be weird if two dominant males were dancing._

 _Timaeus' eye color – I don't exactly know his eye color, the anime is not very clear on this, so I am using the eye color in his dragon form_

 _Timaeus not using honorifics –They (Timaeus, Hermos, Critias, Dartz) are Greeks. Same situation as Atem._

 _Chairman Kaiba – CEO, Chairman, boss…Seto has a lot of titles since he held one of the most successful company in Japan._

 _ **Omake:**_

 _ **~After Yami and Seto left~**_

 _ **"Please don't come this way, please don't come this way…! Please don't-oh he went away…" Yugi breathed out a sigh of relief, glad that one of the male guests hesitated and went back to where he came from instead of continuing towards Atem and him.**_

 _ **A chuckle rambled into his ears.**_

 _ **"Are you going to pray for each and every person that comes our way?" A smile was trying not to make its way to Atem's mouth.**_

 _ **"Don't tease me." Yugi muttered, a small frown appearing. "You have no idea how scary it is to see someone coming this way with the intention to…talk."**_

 _ **Atem hummed. What Yugi did not know, was that Atem felt the same way. Being a photographer, he knew little about businesses, even less about talks that involved that. However, despite that, he did not show any of that apprehension, and chose to show that he was not called a pharaoh for nothing. Every time someone came near them, Atem stood up straight and stared piercingly at them right in the eyes, forcing them to reconsider approaching them.**_

 _ **"I would rather you pray for something else."**_

 _ **"Oh gods. Why?!" Yugi darted his eyes around the ballroom, trying to find the 'something else' that Atem was telling him to pray for. "Please don't tell me something is wrong!"**_

 _ **A whisper floated into Yugi's ears. "I would rather you pray to someone…namely me."**_

 _ **Wide eyes turned to Atem, who actually winked.**_

 _ **A blink. And another. A helpless laugh then involuntarily escaped the shorter man. "I…Atem…you…oh gods…" Yugi pressed his face to Atem's arm, a blush surfacing up. "You are so impossible…"**_

 _ **"And that's why you love me, isn't that right?" Atem smirked proudly, his chest puffed out.**_

 _ **"…" Yugi smiled embarrassingly. "…Yes…That's why I love you so much...my pharaoh."**_

 _ **Atem blinked in surprise this time; his heart had skipped a beat at the way Yugi had called him. He looked down and saw Yugi coyly looking up at him before hiding his face back on his arm.**_

 _ **Yugi allowed Atem to shift a bit, face still hidden by the arm. He then felt Atem lowering his head to his. The husky tone that came caused Yugi to bury his face deeper into the arm.**_

 _ **"…Don't start a fire you can't douse, my little consort."**_

 _ **Atem smiled at the heat burning through the sleeves of his blazer and undershirt. The trio had often joked about how Atem was named a pharaoh, and that since he was one, both Yami and Yugi should be his wife. However, Yami and Yugi did not like the term, and so the word consort was used instead.**_

 _ **The teasing moment ended when maroon eyes caught another person heading their way. "Someone is coming this way."**_

 _ **"Oh gods." Yugi immediately paled, eyes stealing a quick look. "Please don't come this way, please don't come this way…!"**_

 _ **Atem gave a small laugh and straightened his back.**_

 _ **It was time for the pharaoh to emerge again.**_

 _That's all folks! If you have any questions, just leave a review!_


	5. An infamous story

_Marisay-chan writing crazily here! And yup! I was correct, the omakes are more popular XD_

 _To_ _ **NarupokeeAurorafan**_ _: He really is, isn't he? *Winks* I'm from Singapore. And thank you *Smiles*_

 _To_ _ **YamiNoIcexIcuo**_ _: Ohhh I can't wait for it! Good luck with that! I totally understand how you feel *Making a voodoo doll for Writer's block and others* I would hate to see it go too, noooooooo! *Cries out* And yes, let's work hard together!_

 _To_ _ **puppyface1000**_ _: Ah, they won't appear until later…maybe *Smiles* It's not really kidnappings, more like just…missing. There were three missing elderly that showed up dead, and children were reported missing here and there. Of course, by now, it was slowly dissipating. But, I know it's probably still going on. Just without our notice_

 _To_ _ **Kashi-Got-Swagz**_ _: *Grins* I will give you a small snippet of lemon in this chapter._

 _Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters, only the story ^.^_

 _In Italics are thoughts_

 **In bold are flashbacks**

 _ **In bold and Italics are thoughts in flashbacks**_

 _Story Starts_

* * *

CLICK CLICK CLICK

"Perfect. Could you tilt your head a little to the left, a little more-that's it. Hold still."

CLICK

Atem stood straight and checked his camera, a Nikon D810. He nodded and walked towards the female model he was taking pictures of. "Does this meet your expectation, Anzu?" He stood near her and leaned forward to show her the picture.

The blue-eyed brunette women barely glanced at the camera, turning a little red on the face at the close proximity. "O-Of course! You are the one who took it...I trust you."

She shivered at the chuckle Atem gave.

Atem smiled, "You have too much faith in me. Then, I shall go ahead and send these pictures to your manager." The man checked his watch. "...And just in time too." Atem clapped his hands to gather attention from everyone on the set. "All right, everyone. That will be all for today. Great work."

Some made some cheers and others gave Atem thumbs up. They all thanked him as they left the set. Atem only made half-hearted smile since he was busy looking at his phone, punching the buttons at a rapid speed.

"Erm...Atem?"

"Hm?" Atem turned around and saw Anzu standing there with a head bowed slightly and hands behind her back. "Ah, is something wrong, Anzu?" He glanced back to his phone when it rang, signaling a message.

"I-I was wondering..." Anzu paused for a while since Atem was texting. Once she received an apology look, she continued, "...if you are busy after this."

"Oh?" Atem raised an eyebrow, then looked at his phone when it rang again. Seeing the massage, he smiled lovingly, not noticing Anzu inhaling a sharp breath at that instant. "Is there something important that you wish to discuss? Another advertisement? What theme is it?"

"Oh, no...no." Anzu shuffled her feet. "I...I was just curious."

"Ah." Atem tilted his head in curiosity. "Well, I'm actually meeting with one of my lovers after this." Atem just missed the frown Anzu had as his phone rang once more. He quickly typed back a response and smiled in apology, "So...?"

"Oh, erm...I just...want to talk to you about something..."

Atem furrowed his eyebrows, "What is it?"

"It's...the thing is-"

"Atem!"

Anzu jumped and placed a hand over her mouth, looking embarrassed. Atem blinked twice and looked at the one shouting his name.

Mana stood there with one hand on her hip, her lips thinned as though seeing something she does not like.

"Mana, wha-"

"I have been looking everywhere for you! You still need to look through the pictures for the 'Trend' magazine. They have yet to have a cover page! You need to discuss about the next theme, and the model you are going to need." The younger female quickly reached for Atem's arm and started dragging him out of the door. Just before they went out of the door, Mana swiveled her head back to face Anzu, who jerked a little at the unexpected attention. The helper smiled brightly and said, "By the way, Mazaki-san, your manager is looking for you. Have a nice day!"

They left, leaving a stunned Anzu behind, still wondering what had just happened.

* * *

 _ **Atem's situation**_

* * *

Teal eyes went half-lidded.

A maroon eye bored onto the back of a head

A frown deepened.

Soft humming emerged from a throat.

"All right!" Mana gave up and pouted at Atem, who only looked at her with knowing eyes. "The pictures for 'Trend' were decided, the cover page was long done and the next theme was love..." She slumped and twiddled her fingers, "You have also already chosen your model..."

"Actually, I have not chosen a model yet." Atem shook his head. "It's hard to find someone who could portray that emotion. But, anyways..." Atem frowned slightly. "I hope you realized that you have been very rude to one of the famous models and dancers. Care to explain that?"

"Not really." Mana muttered defiantly and pouted even more when Atem narrowed his eyes in warning. "Oh...don't tell me you have not noticed? She's doing that on purpose! I won't accept anyone but Yami and Yugi!"

"What...?" Atem blinked in surprise. "Doing what on purpose? And why are you bringing Yami and Yugi into this?"

He was faced with a jaw drop and a disbelief look.

"..." Mana stared at him for a while and finally dropped her head in defeat. She then smiled exasperatedly at Atem, "You are really a man of your word, aren't you, Atem?" At the slow blink she received, Mana laughed, "You really don't see anyone else but your lovers, do you?"

"...Your point?"

Mana gave a sigh. "For someone who does flirting, thought of perverted things and could seduce someone with just a blink of an eye-"

"You make it sound as though I am a playboy."

"-You can be rather blind."

The tanned man paused, not quite sure whether to react to the insult or not. "...I still don't get what you are trying to say."

"Ah, never mind!" Mana shouted in slight frustration. How thick could someone be?! "...Then again, I suppose it can be one of your endearing traits. It also shows just how much you love your boyfriends." She nodded in approval.

"Mana-"

"Aren't you supposed to be off somewhere?" She raised an eyebrow. "You said you would take a chance to leave early if possible."

"Ah!" Atem realized that too. He quickly ran past Mana and shouted a quick goodbye, disappearing before Mana could say anything else.

"Really," Mana huffed amusingly.

"How could he not notice that she had a crush on him?"

* * *

 _ **Atem's situation**_

* * *

 _~At a pub~_

A mouth gleefully slurped up the smoothie. Once it had received enough, the mouth released the straw, swallowed and gave a satisfied 'Aah' at the delicious taste.

"No matter how many times I had this, it always felt like the first time: heavenly!" Yugi gushed out. "You have to tell me how to make this someday, Mai!"

A blond lady smiled and leaned towards Yugi at the counter. "I would if you would introduce me to someone. Or," She winked at Yugi, hands folded underneath her huge bosom, showing off her cleavage. "You could be the one?"

Yugi choked, coughing a few times to get oxygen back to his lungs. "M-Mai!"

"Oh, don't give me that." Mai gave a wave of her hand. "Your boyfriends won't mind me flirting with you. Besides, you act as though you have never been flirted by a female before."

The male mumbled and went back drinking his smoothie.

Violet eyes widened a little. Mai stared at the male seated in front of her. "Not even one?" The shifting of Yugi's eyes had Mai blinking in surprise. "Huh. Weird. With the way you are, I could have sworn that girls would swarm all over you. Not even a single girl went to you when you were in school?"

Yugi fiddled with his straw. "Why would girls want to talk to me? Besides, at that time, I...I was not really in any position to have a relationship..." Blond bangs hid the eyes away. "Even now, I still find it hard to believe that Atem and Yami had chose me instead of some pretty girl..."

"Yugi..." Mai softened her eyes. She sighed and shook her head. "...He really messed you up, didn't he?" She placed her arms on the counter and positioned her head near Yugi's. "Those two love you a lot...You know that, right?"

"I know!" Yugi jerked his head up at the hint of doubt present in Mai's voice. "I know...I love them too. It's just...I..."

"You are just scared it won't last forever." Mai finished for him. "You are scared that this is all a dream, you are scared that everything will turn up to be fake. And," Mai smiled softly. "You are mostly scared that you will lose them."

Mai chuckled at the wide eye look Yugi was having. "But you know, Yugi, I think that you don't realize just how much you are fighting."

"F-Fighting?"

"In life, we faced tons of things." Mai straightened herself, picking up a dirty glass and wiping it with a cloth. "Good, bad. Some are the best and others the worse. Some people have a smooth life while others had a dreadful one. But," She paused in her wiping to check for any more dirt in the glass and then continued to wipe. "I admired those who had a dreadful life."

"Eh...?" Yugi followed the motion of the cloth cleaning the glass with his eyes. "Why?"

"Because they are the strongest out of everybody else." Mai held the glass up "Because they are strong enough to endure through it. Because..." Violet eyes glanced at Athemyst ones. "They know the meaning of hardship."

Yugi blinked when Mai placed the glass in front of him, but not removing her hand away from the glass.

"And despite all that, they continued on. Fighting every step of the way. Just like you."

Yugi looked back at Mai in confusion.

"That...thing," Mai sneered slightly before her expression went back to normal. "Caused you to feel inferior. Made you feel as though you are worthless. And all that was causing you to feel this way with your relationship with Atem and Yami." She patted his hair. "Because you love them, you felt they deserved better. That's why you rejected them when they confessed to you."

Yugi could not help the gasp coming out from his mouth. "Mai, you-"

"But that all changed a year back." The lady went back to her original position, her free hand cupping her chin. "By accepting them, you fought against what he told you, you struggled against what he said and chose to listen to...this." She pointed a finger at his heart. "What he did to you was wrong, you know that. However those years of being treated lowly caused your heart and mind to have different opinions."

She smiled, "This relationship is doing you good, Yugi. Even with all your fears, you still stayed with them. That just shows how strong you are, and that's how you shined. Just like this glass over here." Mai removed her hand from the glass, letting Yugi see how cleaned it was, so much that he could see his reflection on it. "It has been dirtied after being used, but with a few supporters," Mai lifted the cloth that she was using. "It will shine like it has never been before."

The lady then gave a winked to the 23-year-old, "Atem and Yami are your supporters. So don't let it all go to waste, all right?"

Memories of how tender and caring his boyfriends were made Yugi's eyes misted a little. "..." He quickly ran a hand over his eyes. "You are amazing, Mai. It's like you are reading me like a book."

The bartendress laughed. "Not exactly. When you have lived as long as I have, you will know all this too."

At that, an eyebrow was raised. "...Exactly how old are you, Mai?"

"It's not polite to ask a lady's age." She smirked. "And it's a secret."

A laugh occurred between them before a man interrupted them. He slammed his pint glass on the counter and had a rather smug look.

The easy atmosphere immediately changed into a tensed one as Mai stood up straight while Yugi quickly bowed his head to focus on his drink, yet peeking his eyes at the man beside him. With just one look, both of them were able to tell that the man was drunk, for his face was totally red and his eyes were a little hazy.

"Heyyy." The man hiccupped, waving his pint glass towards Mai. "Give me another shot."

"I'm sorry, sir." Mai coolly replied. "But according to store policy, we are not allowed to serve any more drinks to people who are...a little tipsy."

"Arrh?" The man leveled a glare at the bartendress. "I'm-Hic-paying here! And when I say I want it, I want it!" He then narrowed his eyes, looking intently at Mai.

Mai's hands twitched, fighting the urge to slap the man when his gaze lingered on her chest area.

He let out an amused chuckle. "Now that I looked at you, quite a lady, aren't you?" His eyes were aimed below eye level. "How about you give me some...service, huh?" He threw his head back and laughed.

Eyes were narrowed.

"As I said," Mai went on wiping the counter. "I am not allowed to serve any more alcoholic drinks to customers who are drunk."

"Now, now. No need to play coy." With a lightning fast move for a drunkard, he grabbed Mai's wrist. He smirked lecherously, "I'm sure you have tons of experience."

Thoroughly offended, Mai snatched her wrist back. "I'm really sorry. But I have to ask you to leave the place now. The door's that way."

In a blink, the smirk disappeared and scowl took place. He smashed his pint glass on the floor, making all the other present customers leave in a hurry, not wishing to get caught up with the scene. "How dare you! Do you even know who I am?! How dare you reject Jiro the Jorogumo!"

"I have no idea who you are." Mai flicked her hair back. "I don't even care if you are the king himself. Everyone is subjected to laws, and you," She folded her arms. "Are no exception."

"You-" He lunged towards her with his hands.

However, his attempt were thwarted when one of his arms was grabbed before he could even reach Mai.

"What?!" He turned to see athemyst eyes glaring at him. "Who the heck are you? And what do you think you are doing?!"

"Leave her alone!" Yugi threw Jiro's arm away from Mai.

"Heh!" Jiro squirted his eyes at his new target. "What are you, her boyfriend? A tiny thing like you?" He took another look, noting the neck buckle and the bracelets Yugi wore. "...Heh. You are not that bad looking yourself. You would make a good play toy."

Yugi inhaled sharply while Mai bristled.

"Don't you dare touch him!"

Ignoring what was said, Jiro went after Yugi.

"Yugi!"

Yugi could only watch the hand approaching him with wide eyes.

The hand came to a startling halt just a few inches away from Yugi's frightful face.

"What now?!" Jiro was ready to chew the person who dared to interrupt him for the second tim-

Jiro felt his heart actually froze when he turned to that person.

"...Are you all right?" The person asked Yugi.

Yugi gave a small nod, not expecting to be rescued.

"Oh, thank god." Mai rushed out of the counter and quickly went to Yugi's side, holding Yugi's head with both of her hands as if to protect him from further harm. "Your timing was impeccable, Atem."

Atem tilted his head in acknowledgement, his eyes never leaving the man he was holding onto. His grip on Jiro's upper arm tightened, so much that Jiro was wincing in pain.

Still, Jiro tried to put on a brave front. "H-Heh! If you want to join in, you could have just said so." Jiro gestured to the other two parties. "The more the merrier." He then smirked, feeling more confident the longer Atem stayed silent. "Even better, I will let you watch while I take the boy."

Maroon eyes turning into slits were his only warning.

People walking just outside the store gave screams and shouts of surprise as the door opened with a loud bang, followed by a badly beaten man flying out, landing a few feet away from the store.

Jiro struggled to get up from the floor, quickly cowering when a pair of boots appeared in front of him.

Atem kneeled down on one knee, with an arm hanging on his propped leg. "...If I see you around this area one more time," His free hand shot out and grabbed the bruised man's neck, earning a choking sound. "I will not hesitate to make you regret ever being born. Am I clear?"

A wheeze came out.

The hand on the neck tightened.

"Atem!" Yugi, who stood at the entrance with Mai, went wide eyes, afraid that Atem would end up going overboard.

Hearing the frightful tone of his love, Atem relaxed his grip before pushing the neck away, causing Jiro to fall back to the ground with an 'Oof'. "Leave."

Jiro trembled, stumbled a few times while standing up and quickly fled, pushing past some of the passerby in his haste to get away.

The tanned man dusted his clothes, paying no heed to the audience he had attracted and turned around. His whole posture softened when faced with his lover.

Yugi, in turn, relaxed and sad look took over. This made the other man furrowed his eyebrows.

"All right, all right. Nothing to see here. Move on." Mai told those lingering onlookers while pushing Atem and Yugi back inside her store.

Once inside, she quickly flipped her store sign, from 'Open' to 'Closed'.

* * *

 _ **Atem's situation**_

* * *

Atem found himself being pushed onto a chair. A figure suddenly stood in front of him and began examining his hands, checking it carefully.

"I am not injured." Atem assured Yugi softly, afraid that if he spoke any louder, it would cause Yugi to flight.

"You need some ice." Yugi gently ran a finger over those red knuckles. "Mai, do you-"

"I will go get it." The lady was already entering the back room. She shot a look towards Atem, and disappeared behind the curtain that hid the back room.

Atem looked at the direction that Mai had went and looked back down at the man before him.

"Is it normal for it to be this red? Did you break any bones? Maybe we should head to the hospital just to make sure. You shouldn't have-" His lips were gently pressed by another.

The both of them stayed at that position for a while, neither making a move to deepened the kiss, simply choosing to stay connected. The kiss then slowly broke with a soft smack of the lips. They leaned their foreheads together and looked at each other without saying anything.

"...You really shouldn't have done that." Yugi whispered.

"Why not?" Atem matched the soft voice.

Yugi stroke Atem's hands. "You ended up hurting yourself. It's not worth-"

"Definitely worth it." Atem took Yugi's hands into his. "I won't allow someone like him to touch my life."

A blink. "Y-Your life?"

Atem raised one of Yugi's hands and pressed a kiss to the back of it. He directed his warm eyes at Yugi, "My lovers are my life."

Red filled up the shorter man's face as Atem continued to press chaste kisses on his hand.

"Now you are just rubbing this on my poor lonely heart."

They turned to see Mai with a pack of ice.

She passed the pack to Yugi and mock-glared. "Don't be so romantic in front of a single lady."

Atem chuckled, while Yugi quickly focused on pressing the ice to Atem's knuckles, face turning redder. "I'm sure you have a lot of admirers, Mai."

"Admirers." Mai repeated in slight distaste. "Not exactly something I need. What I want is a man who could sweep me off my feet, who could put up with me and stay with me no matter what." She gave a sly grin to Atem. "Yugi makes a nice candidate, don't you think?"

Atem let out a laugh at his boyfriend bursting out steam from his body. He wrapped an arm around his lover. "Sorry to disappoint, but this lovely man here is already taken by two other men. Needless to say," He winked. "Those two men are rather protective over their partner, so I would suggest you look somewhere else."

"Competition, eh?" Mai smirked. "My kind of game. Any advice to win against those two men?"

"You will lose." Came the instant reply.

"How confident." Mai purposely showed off her cleavage, nudging Yugi slightly, making him blush even more. "Surely I provide a more attractive visual?"

"Ah, but Yugi is not that shallow." Atem did not even spare a look at Mai's chest, only reaching behind and plucked a rose from a vase that just happened to be behind him. "It's the inside that counts, isn't that right?" He presented the rose to his blushing boyfriend and placed it behind Yugi's ear, giving a kiss on the petals as he did so.

"Surely Yugi would have more things to work with, with me as his partner."

Yugi squeaked as the conversation turned sexual.

A dark chuckle came forward. "They won't even make him work."

Mai gestured with her breast again. "He will have more things to play with."

"He won't think about playing with two men driving him crazy." Atem crossed his legs in a slow manner, his stance turning predatory.

"I can make him moan in pleasure."

"He will only be screaming out their names."

"I have-"

"Ahhhhh! Stop it, both of you!" Yugi could not take the teasing anymore, his entire body turning into an interesting shade of red.

The sexual atmosphere dispersed and laughter took its place.

"P-Perverts!" It was the only retort Yugi could come up with, forcing out even more laughter.

 _~Just outside the store~_

A camera was clicking non-stop, snapping each and every moment. The operator of the camera paused when he saw the people he was spying on enjoying their time together.

Their hands tightened on their camera and they lifted the camera, the lens aiming at only one person in the pub.

"...I'm sorry."

CLICK _  
_

The cameraperson brought the camera down and looked at the screen.

An image of Yugi pouting met the operator's eyes.

They looked back at the happy scene, clenched their hands and left the area.

"He better come up with a plan. Fast."

* * *

 _ **Atem's situation**_

* * *

 _~A few days later~_

A lady with curled black hair was busy ranting off something from a paper.

"Also, you have a photo shoot with that creepy old man, Daimon...Actually, let's just cancel that. We have Mr. Jibade to do that. That man just creeps me out. Then-" She lifted her eyes and sighed when the person she was talking to was not listening at all. "Anzu, I would appreciate it if you could focus here."

"Ah-Wha-" Anzu snapped out of her daze. Seeing the disapproval look, she bit her lip and stared at her lap in shame. "Sorry, Aileen."

"Anzu," Aileen placed the paper on a table and leaned down to Anzu. "I'm sure I don't need to tell you that you have competition out there? While you have your dance to back you up, you need beauty too. Kaoruko Himekoji have been stealing both parts lately." She glanced to the side in slight distaste. "...Apparently, that girl has no shame. Telling people she could dance when she can't. Regardless," She cast a stern glance at her charge. "She is raising in popularity. You will get left behind if you don't buck up."

"I-I'm sorry." Anzu slapped both of her cheeks to wake herself up and gave a determined face. "I will work twice as hard, Aileen. Sorry for being so sloppy."

Brown eyes met blue ones. Another sigh was released.

"This just won't do."

"A-Aileen?" Anzu stuttered, afraid that she had upset the woman.

The lady took a chair and placed it in front of Anzu. She then gracefully sat down on it, earning a hint of awe from Anzu.

"As your manager, as well as dance instructor, I would have continued without questions asked." Aileen supported her chin with one of her hands. "...But as your friend, I am concerned as to why you are acting this way. So, what is the matter?"

"I-It's nothing, Aileen. Really..." Anzu could not bring herself to meet her manager's eyes.

"Really?" The instructor crossed her legs. "And I suppose that a certain photographer, had nothing to do with it?"

The celebrity's façade immediately broke and red covered her entire face.

"If you are so sweet on him, why not speak to him about it?"

"...I can't." Anzu slumped. "He's...in a relationship. With two people."

"Take him out on a date." The manager continued, as if not hearing Anzu's words. "And tell him how you feel."

"Erm, Aileen? He already has two-"

"Who knows, he might just respond back to you." Aileen smiled.

"..." Anzu was at a loss. Her manager was ignoring the fact that Atem had two lovers, almost implying for her to do the same. But that would be just-

A sigh was released. "I am not ignoring that, Anzu."

"Eh?"

"But obviously," Aileen rested her hands on her lap. "Not doing anything is killing you inside. I am your friend, but don't forget that I am also your manager. I will," Aileen hardened her eyes. "Leave you if you do not hold up to my expectation and will find some other model or dancer to teach and guide."

She laid a hand on the Anzu's trembling shoulder. "Do something about this, Anzu." She then whispered something to her.

Blue eyes narrowed in resolution.

* * *

 _ **Atem's situation**_

* * *

 _~One morning~_

"And...that's how it is."

A pair of crimson eyes blinked first, shortly followed by athemyst ones.

A huge sweatdrop appeared on Atem's head. "Don't look at me like that..."

Yami hummed and slowly wrapped his arms around Yugi, bringing him closer so that Yugi's back was to his chest. "Date, huh?"

"It's not a date." Atem huffed out slightly, as though he had explained that multiple times. "Mahado just wished for me to take Anzu out...for dinner."

"That is the explanation of a date." Yami hid his face behind Yugi's hair and purposely spoke loudly to Yugi. "Aibo, it seems we have been abandoned."

Yugi laughed while Atem looked disgruntled, with a hint of amusement at Yami's playfulness.

"Don't worry," Yami placed a kiss on Yugi's nape. He turned Yugi around and tilted Yugi's head up with a finger. "It just means that I have you all to myself." He locked his lips with the surprised Yugi.

The kissing couple let out gasps when a body forcing both of them to a wall suddenly interrupted their kissing session. Yugi glanced behind in shock at the sudden movement. Yami merely licked his lips, his eyes glittering in challenge.

Placing his hands on the wall, Atem trapped them within his arms, with Yami leaning against the wall and holding Yugi in front.

"I will never," Atem pressed his body firmly on Yugi's, causing Yugi's body to press on Yami's in return. "Never, abandon either of you. Love the both of you too much to do that." His voice got lower. "The two of you are stuck with me, in heart, soul and body." He accentuated that with a roll of his hips that had Yugi giving a small whimper and Yami closing his eyes tightly at the sensation.

Not willing to give in so easily, Yami struggled his eyes open. Giving a slight smirk, he reached out to push Atem away from Yugi, "R-Really? What a liar you are then. After all, you are going out. On. A. Date." He pulled Yugi closer to him. "It will be your loss. You are missing out. Tonight, I will make sure that Aibo only screams my name."

Yugi jerked his head to Yami. He had to swallow at the look directed at him. The youngest male blushed furiously at the...unexpected words coming from Yami.

 _He normally would not say that!_

Unknowing to him, Mai had told Atem and Yami about what Yugi had told her. Since then, the both of them always made sure to show their affections more often...that included teasing as well.

"Can't let that happen, can I?" Atem took Yami's hand away and pinned it on the wall. "He should be screaming both of our names, just like I told Mai."

An eyebrow raised and a hint of disbelief was present "...You told her that?"

"She was hinting for Yugi to be her partner." Atem quickly halted Yugi's attempts to escape, using his other hand to grasp Yugi's right thigh, spreading it out and pushed his pelvis to the open space, brushing on his lovers' sensitive areas at the same time. He inhaled slowly at the twin moans he received, "Had to put a stop to it. Told her that only we can do this."

"I wonder about that?" Yami mocked, panting a little.

"W-Wait, both of you...Sto-"

"You are being rather playful today, Yami." Atem let out a growl that had the other two shivering. "Don't make me punish you."

The mentioned man took a shuddering breath and...smirked. "Be it true or not, it's not going to happen tonight." Yami shrugged off Atem's hand and ducked out of Atem's arms, bringing Yugi with him. "Go on with that date of yours. I will be sure to keep Aibo...busy. Come home early today, Aibo." Yami cooed to the red-faced man. "It will be just you and me. In the bedroom. With screams and moans as our music." He then whispered loudly, "And our bared bodies sliding sensually for the moon's appreciation."

Not able to stand it anymore, Yugi quickly dashed out of the house, shouting a quick goodbye. His redness was so visible it caused people on the street to comment on it.

"...I will punish you once I get home."

All Atem got was a teasing grin.

* * *

 _ **Atem's situation**_

* * *

 _~Night, at a restaurant~_

Anzu glanced at the man before her and bit her lip. She had no idea how to start a conversation. Whenever she tried to say something, the moment those eyes met hers, words disappeared and a weak smile was given instead.

Atem blinked and ate a piece of the steak he had ordered. Perhaps it was Mana's words a few days ago, or perhaps it was because he was anxious to go back to his lovers...whom were no doubt being intimate, since Yami would not just say something like that and do nothing, but Atem just felt that he did not want to be with Anzu alone like this. The nervousness pouring out from the model and dancer was not helping one bit.

After a few more moments of awkward silence, Atem decided to make the first move.

"Anzu." He ignored the jump he caused and continued what he was saying. "Is there a reason why you want me to take you out for dinner? Mahado was being very vague when he told me to take you out."

Anzu averted her eyes.

 **"Could you please ask Atem to take me out for dinner?"**

 **Mahado stopped what he was doing and turned to the dancer. Stunned, he stood there, blinking a few times as if trying to confirm what he just heard.**

 **Anzu clasped her hands behind her back, awaiting his reaction.**

 **A small frown appeared. "...Mazaki-san. I apologize if I offend you, but..." He shifted to ease the tension that came up. "You do know that pharaoh is spoken for, right?"**

 **Hands clenched tightly. "I just wish for him to have dinner with me. Any day would be fine with me."**

 **"Mazaki-"**

 **"Please!" Anzu desperately pleaded, bowing lowly. "Just one night...just one. Please..."**

 **Mahado flinched. He was really uncomfortable. For one, the person in front of him was a famous person. Two, it was a woman. Mahado, being a gentleman, never liked having ladies being in such a vulnerable state. Three...his eyes shifted around, seeing the stares of some co-workers. Anzu did not choose a private place for them to talk about this. At the same time, he did not want to cause any complication to his boss and friend's relationship. It was already tough without a fourth party. And yet...he looked down at the bowed head, conflicted with his decision.**

 **A nearly inaudible sob made up the decision for him.**

 **Closing his eyes and giving a helpless sigh, Mahado prayed that Atem would forgive him.**

"Anzu?"

Anzu gasped softly, coming out of the memories. "S-Sorry. I was thinking..."

Atem did not miss the constant shifting and trembling fingers. He figured that whatever Anzu wanted to speak about was important, so he tried to placate her first. "Hey."

"Y-Yes?"

"No need to be so formal." Atem smiled, not knowing that he was causing havoc in Anzu's heart. "You and I had worked together for quite some time, haven't we? I still remembered the first time we met. I was such a clumsy photographer, no?"

He was. Anzu remembered that first meeting, how inexperienced the both of them were. Anzu had no idea how to pose for a photo shoot, and Atem was still trying to figure out how to work in a studio. Both of them fumbled so many times that it caused the whole staff to call a break, being so frustrated with them.

 **Anzu flinched at the disapproval looks from the some of the employees. The moment they were gone, she let tears out, trying to keep her sobs to a minimal.**

 **CLICK**

 **Her sobs halted at the sound. She looked up and saw the new photographer looking at a camera's screen with a disturbed face. She watched him scratching his head, trying to work with a tripod before giving it up all together with a frustrated growl. He gave a glare at the tripod and snatched up his camera, walking towards the crying girl.**

 **"…You shouldn't cry. It mars your beauty." He produced a handkerchief and handed it to her.**

 **Still surprised, she shakily took the cloth and watched the man sat in front of her. She felt something inside her fluttering like crazy at those words he said.**

 **"No worries, everybody makes mistakes." He smiled sheepishly. "Heaven knows I made tons of them as a child. It totally drove my father up the wall."**

 **A small giggled came out before she could stop it.**

 **CLICK**

 **"Ah..." She blinked and saw that the photographer now had a pleased smile while looking at the camera's screen.**

 **"Here," He showed her the screen. "That's how you should look like."**

 **She looked. She saw herself with tear-stained cheeks and yet had a smile on at the time when she giggled. If one did not know the situation, they would have assumed that the girl in the image was simply crying in tears of joy. Anzu looked at the man before her.**

 **"All happy and cheerful." He surmised, winking. "That, is the definition of beauty in my books."**

 **She blushed, not used to such compliments.**

 **He laughed. "You reminded me of someone I know. He was all shy and cute whenever I praised him. By the way, I'm Atem. Pleased to meet you, Miss celebrity." He bowed gracefully.**

 **"I-I am not-"**

 **"Not yet." Atem grinned. "That will all change with me as your photographer. Can't wait to start working with you!"**

 **Anzu had to blink at the confident words and laughed at the enthusiasm. She then heard another click of the camera. Looking up, she saw Atem showing her the image of her laughing.**

 **Atem winked, "That's the way photographs should be taken, all natural."**

 **The workers from before started strolling back into the studio, some huffing at the sight of them.**

 **Anzu tensed up.**

 **"Hey."**

 **She was faced with the image of her laughing.**

 **Atem pointed a finger at the image and tapped the screen. "All natural, remember? Come." He pulled her to where the shoot was. "Let's show them!"**

 **And that was the start of their career.**

"Ah...tripods were my nemesis back then, still is actually." Atem chuckled, shaking his head. "How can anyone stand using them?"

The model listened to Atem continuing about the memories of the past. Ever since then, she had always stuck to Atem whenever there was a photo shoot with him in it, and true to his words, she became a celebrity. She transformed from a shy girl to a confident one who had no problem posing her body.

... _And it was all thanks to him._

She smiled when Atem talked about one of his photo shoots with another celebrity.

As they grew older, Anzu realized that the feelings when she first met Atem just continued to grow. At that time, she had no idea what it was. She only figured it out a year ago when-

 **"I have two lovers now." Atem had sparkles in his eyes.**

That...was like a knife stabbing through her heart. All this time...all this time...it was because...

"And he actually flipped his hair around like a girl, not that it's bad, it was just an observation on my part and-"

"I love you."

There was a huge pause. Atem blinked and turned his head to face Anzu, who was staring at him with love in her eyes.

The female gave a bittersweet smile and looked down at her plate, poking the meat with her knife.

"Ah..." Her hands tightened at the whisper. "So that's what Mana meant."

Anzu did not dare to look up. She knew she was going to be rejected and yet, there a small hope that Atem might love her back, that she had a chance, that she-

"Anzu."

Hesitantly, she glanced up. She sucked in a breath when Atem took her hand and placed a small kiss on the back of it. The hope inside her was blooming vigorously.

"...I am extremely flattered, that such a beautiful and wonderful lady like you have confessed to me. I felt undeserving of it." Atem muttered into her hand.

The silence that came next was almost suffocating to Anzu.

Atem closed his eyes and leaned his forehead on the hand. "...It's regretful of me to say this while you have just bared your heart to me, but..." He peeked his eyes up at Anzu, who already had a knowing look. "...I have only seen you as a friend, and mostly, a sister."

A soft strangled cry was given.

"I'm sorry. I have long given my heart away to the two people, whom are now my loves." Atem replaced his forehead on her hand. "I'm sorry for not being able to return your feelings."

He listened to the hectic breathing across him, and scrunched his face up in regret. "...Please don't cry. It mars your beauty."

With that, Anzu broke down.

It just had to be the same words that made her fall in love in the first place and caused her the greatest pain at the same time.

* * *

 _ **Atem's situation**_

* * *

Aileen was sitting on a couch when the door opened. Seeing her charge, she blinked and straightened her spine. Her eyes watched Anzu walking towards her, dropping her stuff on the floor and sat heavily beside her.

"...Well?"

"You were right." Anzu mumbled.

 **She laid a hand on the Anzu's trembling shoulder. "Do something about this, Anzu." She then whispered something to her.**

 **"It will be painful, but you will feel more free than you ever did."**

"It hurts...but it's as though a huge weight has lifted from my shoulder." She held her face with her hands. "...But it still hurts...!"

Aileen smiled softly and brought Anzu to her chest, letting her cry all she wants.

"It will get better."

The cries echoed through the room.

* * *

 _ **Atem's situation**_

* * *

Atem pinched the bridge of his nose. "Mana was right. I'm really blind." He knocked his head twice as punishment. "I hope she don't take this too hard..."

His phone suddenly rang. Startled, he answered without looking at the caller ID. "Atem speaking."

" _A-Atem...Hn..._ "

An eyebrow was raised up high. He pulled the phone back and looked at the caller ID. Yami's name was written on it. He chuckled and placed to phone back to his ear, "Little one, why are you using Yami's phone? And the greeting you gave...sounds delicious."

" _N-No...I...Uh...W-We were wondering when you will be back and-Ahnn...Y-Yami! Stop it! I'm trying to talk-AH!_ "

Maroon eyes started darkening at the loud moan he heard. He then heard some shuffling from the phone and a new voice came on.

" _Done with your date?_ "

"Adventurous today, aren't we, Yami?" Atem started walking, wanting to get home, now. "Someone else could have answered my phone."

" _Hm. I made sure it was you before giving the phone to Aibo._ " A soft grunt and a mewl was heard. " _I won't let others hear Aibo's sweet sounds._ "

"..." Atem kept silent, straining his ears to hear the muffled sounds on the phone. His breaths quickened, hearing pleasure noises from Yugi and sounds of skin hitting skin. His feet were moving faster, to the point that he was almost running.

" _Are you listening to us?_ " Yami's voice purred from the phone.

"Yes..." Atem hissed.

" _Good, I want you to listen to this before I hang up._ "

Atem blinked at the shuffling noise and hitched his breath when Yugi's escalating moans sung into his ears.

" _Aah...Ah...Hnngg...!_ " Atem could briefly hear Yami telling Yugi to scream his name, with Yugi trying to protest. " _I...Mnn...! N-No…It's embarra-Hn! Not ther-! Ah! Ya...Yami!_ " The scream made Atem tightened his grip on the phone.

A chuckle was heard before the call hung up.

With a flick of the hand, Atem snapped his phone shut. He could see their house just a few blocks away.

A wicked grin appeared.

He would deal with the Anzu situation tomorrow. Right now, he had a lover that need to be punished.

* * *

 _ **Atem's situation**_

* * *

 _~One day~_

"Today's newspaper had an interesting news! One of the famous models and dancers seems to have a new flame? Look it up!" The one waving the newspaper grinned at all the people buying the newspaper. "Hehehehe." He turned around to attract more people. "Come get your newspaper today!"

One newspaper floated to the ground. On the front page, there was a picture.

A picture of when Atem was kissing Anzu's hand.

~To Be Continued~

* * *

 _Whew…this was hard. For some reason, I'm not really satisfied with this chapter..tell me what you think?_

 _Yami was being very playful, aren't he? *Winks* Can you guess who was the cameraperson and the person at the end? Also, if you see names that you don't know of, all of them are from the Toei anime, also known as Season Zero._

 _Things to note:_

 _The new names that appeared in this chapter:_

 _Jiro the Jorogumo – Jorogumo is a mythological spider from Japanese folklore. Jiro's a convict that got out of prison in Season Zero_

 _Aileen – She's a famous dancer, the third game master hired by Kaiba Seto in Season Zero_

 _Daimon – The butler of Kaiba family in Season Zero, also in YuGiOh! Duel Monsters_

 _Kaoruko Himekoji – A girl who showed up in Season Zero. She tried to win a beauty contest by cheating._

 ** _Omake:_**

 ** _Atem tried to fix his hair back to its original state as he walked down the stairs_**

 ** _After such…vigorous activities, he hummed in pleasure at the thought, his throat was totally dry and in need of water. He shivered lightly at how wild Yami was today. His normally calm and collected lover just took a 180 change in personality._**

 ** _He sympathized Yugi. Who knows what Yami had done to him before he reached home. By the looks of it when he got to the bedroom, Yami had probably drove Yugi crazy and took him more than once._**

 ** _Atem licked his lips._**

 ** _Although, it kind of bothered him as to why Yami was acting this way, not that he was complaining much, but it was still a concern._**

 ** _He opened the fridge, grabbed a bottle of mineral water and turned around. The tanned man blinked at the empty cup, decorating with a Horus eye, on the dining table._**

 **" _Huh? They must have forgotten to clean up." He took the empty glass and placed it on the sink. Upon doing that, his eyes caught a half-full glass bottle just beside the sink. Curious, he picked it up and read the contents of the drink as he drank his water. "Manufactured in Japan…Ingredients…contains alcohol…cinnamon fla-wait what?" Atem almost choked on his drink and quickly backtracked to what he just read. "Contains alcohol?!"_**

 ** _That bottle had a really small 'Contains 5% alcohol' star at the top of its label._**

 ** _Atem stood there blankly for a few moments._**

 ** _The bottle had alcohol in it._**

 ** _It was cinnamon flavored; Yami's favorite._**

 ** _There was an empty cup on the table; Yugi used a cup that had little brown monsters on it while Yami used the one with a Horus eye._**

 ** _And then there was Yami's strange behavior…_**

 **…**

 ** _.._**

 ** _._**

 ** _Atem smothered the laughter that was bursting out uncontrollably, not wanting to wake his boyfriends up._**

 ** _He looked at the name of the bottle while wiping tears off his eyes. "…The Incubus." He let out a breathless erratic laugh at the name. "W-Well said."_**

 ** _Yami must have missed the alcohol part when pouring himself a drink. He can be rather lethargic in the morning._**

 ** _Then, an idea popped up._**

 ** _A wide grin made its way to Atem's face. Carefully, he peeled off the label from the bottle and threw it away. He went out of the kitchen and came back with a marker in his hand. Scribbling something on the bottle, Atem opened the fridge and placed the bottle inside._**

 ** _The man snickered, "The next few days should be fun." He licked his lips in anticipation._**

 ** _He closed the fridge and went back to the bedroom with a happy skip._**

 ** _The bottle was marked with 'Cinnamon juice' in black._**

 _Ahahaha! Hope you enjoyed that!_

 _That's all folks! Do leave a review behind!_


	6. Arising problems

_Marisay-chan scribbling here! This is where the action begins!_

 _To_ _ **Akayuki Novak**_ _: You will find out more in this chapter *Grins* And Yami does not get drunk though, he just…becomes more…well, playful. *Coughs* In other words, he is more sexually active after he drank anything alcoholic._

 _To_ _ **lollileahpop**_ _: Thank you so much! Although I am unsure about future chapters, you probably would not see Yami like this for quite some time *Rubs head sheepishly*_

 _To 'Mina': Thank you so very much *Blush* and to answer your questions…you will find out more in this chapter *Smiles*_

 _Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters, only the story ^.^_

 _In Italics are thoughts_

 **In bold are flashbacks**

 _ **In bold and Italics are thoughts in flashbacks**_

 _~Story Starts~_

* * *

 _~In a kitchen~_

A big 'The New Flame?' was printed on the front page of the newspaper in capitals and bolded in a way that would capture the reader's attention immediately.

The person holding the newspaper flipped to the next page and read out loud, " 'It was a fine day to dine in the famous restaurant of Flaming Hearts, when a famous model and dancer caught the eyes of this reporter. Upon closer look, it was discovered to be Mazaki Anzu.' "

Another person was using a ladle to stir the miso soup in the pot. Scooping some of the soup up, the person tasted the soup and nodded in satisfaction.

" 'A surprise it was when a man came together with said model and dancer. It was first thought to be simply an acquaintance. However, halfway through the conversation, the unknown man suddenly kissed Mazaki Anzu's hand and leaned his forehead affectionately on the hand. Flames are definitely sprouting between the two, pun intended-' Indeed, no doubt about that." The person reading the newspaper peeked over when the stove lit up, the sound louder than usual. Continuing the narration, the reader straightened the newspaper to have a better look, " 'Although it was hard to tell, it looked to be a proposal-' "

The sizzling of eggs landing on the frying pan interrupted the speech.

It did nothing to faze the reader as they continued on. " 'After which, Mazaki Anzu was seen crying. It seems the proposal had went off without a hitch, for this reporter had seen the couple hugging each other. Then, they left the place with the unknown man holding Mazaki Anzu's hand. Perhaps they had left to celebrate their union?' "

Plates were placed on the table in front of the reader.

" 'According to anonymous sources, the man was revealed to be Mazaki Anzu's personal photographer. To add on, that man is found out to be-' "

The newspaper was swiftly taken away, revealing Yami's face. Blinking at the sudden disappearance of his reading material, Yami lifted his head to find Atem pursing his lips at him.

"...Revenge is unusual for you, Habibi." Atem took one look at the newspaper and grimaced.

A faint blush surfaced at the endearment, before Yami turned away and grabbed a glass of water from the table. "I have no idea what you are referring to." He drank the water nonchalantly.

Atem stared at his lover for a while. Then...a small pout involuntarily appeared. "You're doing this because I tricked you into drinking alcohol the past few days."

A vein popped and throbbed violently at the very mention of that. Eyebrows twitching in an effort to control himself, Yami raised both the glass and his head higher, focusing all his attention to drinking the liquid. He shut his eyes to block off the sight of Atem, fearing he might ended up doing something he regret should he continued seeing him.

The tanned man humored Yami's effort with a soft hum and a short pause. "I don't see why you are angry." He leaned closer to the other and lowered his voice. "You enjoyed each and every second of it, did you not? So bold, so wild..." A finger sensually trailed its way up Yami's right arm, earning a slight tremble. "I love it when you took control over our bedroom activities. Even if I wanted to stop, I could not, not with those provocative eyes of yours." The finger slowly made its way to the neck. "And the moment you took Yugi...Oh, poor little one. You usually make love to him so slowly and gently. Then, those few days, you completely changed your tempo. You took him so hard, so much that he could not handle the pleasure and was screaming for you to slow down. But you paid no heed and continued. In the end, the little one could not move and his voice was totally hoarse. I remembered him looking so utterly ravished on the bed...it was apparent that the sight was more than satisfactory, seeing as you did not give him a chance to rest before you took him again. And again. And again-"

Yami slammed his glass on the table and turned his head, ready to glare at the one before him despite his reddening face. However, Atem was faster. Just as Yami turned to face him, Atem's hand shot up from Yami's neck and curled up under Yami's chin, lifting it up high and close to Atem's. The movement was just too fast. It shocked Yami out of his angered and embarrassed state, leaving him to stare straight into half-lidded maroon eyes.

Atem tilted his head slightly to the side. "It was the most arousing thing I have ever witnessed." Yami widened his eyes at the tongue that came out of Atem's mouth, licking seductively on the top lip. "Made me wished that I had my camera when it happened."

Red exploded all over Yami's face. "Atem, you-!"

"I won't apologize for tricking you. I did not regret a single moment." Atem chuckled when the pale man bristled silently. He then smiled wickedly, "In fact, this conversation is heating my body up. Why don't we reenact how you took control again?"

The crimson-eyed man was unable to make a protest as Atem harshly captured his lips with his own. A moan was swallowed when a tongue forced its way into Yami's mouth. Eyes squeezed tightly, Yami shakily wrapped an arm around Atem's neck, clutching a handful of Atem's black hair in an attempt to ground himself from the kiss.

His trembling hand then let go of the hair, each finger slowly curling up towards the palm and-

THWACK THUD THUMP

"Aibo, breakfast is ready." Yami shouted out towards the stairs, rubbing his reddened knuckles with the other hand.

Atem was kneeling at one corner, holding the back of his head where three bumps stood out. "That really, really hurts..."

His words were ignored with a scoff from Yami.

"Coming." Yugi climbed down the stairs with a soft smile. "Good morning."

"Good morning, Aibo." Yami greeted warmly, coming forward to take one of Yugi's hands in his and led him to the kitchen. Pressing a kiss to Yugi's cheek, he softly enquired, "Are you all right?"

Yugi was confused by the question. "Eh? What do you mean?"

Yami responded by placing a hand on Yugi's lower back, stroking the area with his thumb.

Yugi's face immediately flushed up. "A-Ah. Yes...I-I'm fine. I-It," Yugi bowed his head in embarrassment. "...It doesn't hurt at all."

"He totally enjoyed it." Atem spoke what Yugi did not have the courage to say, grinning gleefully.

Yami gave a deadpanned look while escorting Yugi, who had his face buried into his hands, to his seat.

The easy atmosphere dissipated the moment Yugi caught sight of the newspaper placed carelessly on the table. Athemyst eyes could see the picture of Atem kissing Anzu's hand on it. "Ah..."

The other two followed his eyes. Atem sighed in exasperation, pinching the bridge of his nose. Yami softened his eyes and moved forward to flip the newspaper, so that the picture was out of sight.

"Let's eat." Yami patted Yugi's shoulder and sat down. He clapped his hands together. "Thank you for the meal."

Yugi mimicked him with a little hesitance, seeing as Atem had not moved from his position. The youngest male kept glancing towards the tanned man, not knowing what to say in this situation.

Atem bit his lip. He was afraid that this would cause a huge rift in their relationships. Like he had mentioned before, despite him being very confident and whatnot, Atem was absolutely terrified of losing the two people he loved the most. He could not afford to lose them. "...I love the both of you. The two of you know that, right?"

"Idiot."

Atem turned to face Yami at the insult, blinking confusingly.

Yami drank his miso soup, prolonging his answer. When he was done drinking, Atem was surprised to find Yami looking at him amusingly with a 'What-am-I-going-to-do-with-you' look and a hint of pink across his cheeks.

"Idiot." Yami repeated, smirking slightly at the twitch he received at the insult again. "We won't ever doubt that."

Atem blinked again and looked at Yugi, who was giving a shy blushing smile.

Seeing the questioning look, Yugi ducked his head and fiddled with his chopsticks. "I-If you truly have found someone else-"

"Never."

Yugi felt his heart skipped a beat at the declaration. He cleared his throat to compose himself, "I-I mean...you are not a person who goes behind people's back. You would have just told us if you really love someone else..."

Atem could not help the grin spreading across his face. For someone who was always insecure and worried about their relationships, Yugi chose to believe in him and would rather hear the truth from him instead of some tabloids or rumors. "Oh, my little one. You make me love you more and more each day."

Yami shook his head while Yugi lowered his red face to avoid the loving look Atem was giving. "Besides, Aibo and I know very well how you treat some of the ladies." The co-boss raised an eyebrow. "I did inform you that your flamboyant manner will land you in trouble one day."

Yugi gave a small laugh at the grumblings from Atem.

"However, this is not what we are worrying about." Yami continued, placing a tofu on his rice. "The problem is, how did they managed to get this photo? And on the front page too."

"What is so surprising about it being on the front page? And it was all stated in the newspaper-"

"Don't be foolish." Yami admonished Atem with sharp glance. "Everyone knows that Flaming Hearts is a place that has high value foods. Only celebrities and really wealthy people are often there. Not to sound arrogant or anything, but I doubt a reporter earns that much to dine there. Although the foods there are really top-notched, even people like Kaiba and I try to avoid that place since the prices are simply too exorbitant. To add on..." Yami flickered his eyes to the newspaper. "I believe I might know this reporter."

"Eh? Really?" Yugi glanced at the newspaper.

Yami chewed his food and swallowed. "Ah. In fact, if I am correct in my assumption," He smirked, looking a bit too amused considering the situation. "Both of you should know this reporter as well."

"Eh?!" Atem and Yugi widened their eyes.

Atem lifted the newspaper, flipping to the article that was slandering him. "Here." A finger pointed to the end of the article. "Reported by...IQ?" There was a long pause. "...Who? Yugi, you know anyone with these initials?"

"IQ?" Yugi pressed his chopsticks on the lips in thought. "Erm...I...don't think so?"

Chuckles brought them out of their thoughts.

"All right, out with it, Yami." Atem waved the newspaper. "Who is this person? And exactly why is this person after me and Anzu? More than half of the things they wrote in the article were off the charts! False even! I'm not even Anzu's personal photographer!"

Yami shook his head, "If it really is who I think it is, it's more about you and less about the celebrity." The man paused for a second, "It's a personal revenge. He simply wish to...make our lives difficult."

"W-Why? Did we do anything to him?"

Yami smiled reassuringly at Yugi, hearing the worried tone. "There's nothing to worry about. Besides this, there's not much he could do...And I would not worry about that if I were you, Aibo." He murmured the next statement, "...Since it's the other way around."

"Is this person that insignificant?" Atem was really curious about the identity of the reporter now, having heard Yami's murmur. Whoever this person was, they are becoming a threat, and had been a threat before. Yet, Yami was not overly concerned about it. Meaning only one thing; this reporter was simply holding a childish grudge and did not hold much power in their hands.

"Very insignificant." Came the response. "I, for one, am glad that both of you don't remember him. He does not even deserve an ounce of our thoughts."

* * *

 _ **A slight revenge**_

* * *

"Hehehehe." A man was printing more papers, and more photos that had Atem and Anzu in it. "All three of you shall rue the day you humiliated me! I will break your family, then I will make you lose your jobs and finally..." A crazed smile was visible. "I will tear your relationships apart, you queers! Hehehehehe!"

The printer chose that moment to malfunction, causing the man to panic when papers starting flying out and covering the whole room in it.

* * *

 _ **A slight revenge**_

* * *

Anzu bit her lip, looking at the picture on the newspaper. She had to admit, it did looked like Atem was proposing to her. Her heart fluttered at the thought before she violently shook it away. Atem had made it clear that they were to have a platonic relationship and nothing more. Even if it hurts, she had to move on.

She just had to.

A sigh interrupted her musings.

Aileen stopped pacing around the room and sat down beside Anzu. "This is not what I had in mind when I tell you to resolve your problem."

"I-I'm sorry, Aileen...I didn't know we were being watch-"

The manager held out a hand to silence Anzu. "It's not your fault. Obviously, this reporter had snuck into the place and," She furrowed her eyebrows. "...For some reason, was targeting the both of you."

"What makes you say that, Aileen?"

"Look at the picture." Aileen gestured to the newspaper. "Did you see anything else?"

Anzu looked closely. Well, at one glance, it was obvious that the main focus was Atem and herself as they took up more than half of the picture. However, Aileen must have meant something else besides that, so Anzu begun looking at places where neither Atem nor herself are in. Besides them, there was the floor of the restaurant, as the picture was taken slightly from above and another table opposite from them.

Anzu was about to tell Aileen that there was nothing out of place when something caught her eyes. She narrowed her eyes and brought the newspaper closer. Tracing a finger above Atem's bowed head in the picture, she barely managed to see a person sitting at the opposite table. The face was not in the picture, and only half the body was visible. Further on, it was rather blurry at that side. However, it was evident that the person was wearing a necklace that seemed to have...an eye in the middle?

The dancer gave a loud gasp in realization. "Is that-?!"

"The Mysterious Isis." Aileen confirmed. "Only she wears a necklace like that. It would be a huge hit for the newspaper company should it be known that she is back in town."

Isis, known as Mysterious Isis to all, was a well-known person across the world. Said to be able to foresee the future, she had predicted tons of outcomes that had came true. The last time she was in Japan, Isis had saved the Prime Minister from getting killed after predicting that he would be poisoned from the very cup of tea he was about to drink.

"I will come back when it is time to come back." Was the last words she spoke before disappearing. Not even the best detective hired could find her.

"Mysterious Isis..." Anzu whispered.

Isis was also known to do fortune telling and, occasionally, fixed relationship problems. Although she knew that was not a speck of hope for her, Anzu was not all that willing to let go of her first love and wondered if meeting Isis could help with that.

 _If only...if only there is a way to get Atem to like me back-_

"I suppose you could use this to your advantage." Aileen teasingly poked Anzu on the forehead, bringing her out of her thoughts. "All you have to do is give hints that you and Mr. Jibade are engaged. He will then have no choice but to be with you."

"Engaged...?"

The manager did not notice Anzu's change of moods and said jokingly, "Look at it this way: If you told the media about you and Mr. Jibade being together, he will have to leave his lovers to uphold yours and his own reputation, no? Otherwise, he will be seen as a cheating boyfriend as the newspaper had stated. And that could be rather damaging to his career, he might even lose clients because of that." Aileen grabbed the newspaper and flipped it. " 'That man, however, was said to be already in a relationship. It was not found if it was true that the man was two-timing or maybe more, but rumors have been spreading around.' Really, what they wouldn't do to get a story on newspaper. Most of the things said about Mr. Jibade are not even true. I wonder how his boyfriends are reacting to this. Not leaving him, I hope." She chuckled.

Her charge had long since stopped listening to her after the engaged talk. She fiddled with her fingers, staring at the picture on the newspaper intently.

"But still," Aileen cupped her chin. "We have to do something about this. I'm already getting calls that are requesting interviews with you. It will be better if we made it into a conference of some sort." The instructor smiled, "Well, this should be easy to resolve. I'm leaving it up all to you, Anzu."

Anzu stared blankly for a while. And then, she nodded.

"Yes...easy to resolve..."

* * *

 _ **A slight revenge**_

* * *

 _~Kaiba Corporation (KC) building~_

"Inishie-sama, have you seen the newspaper?" A woman slid the mentioned newspaper towards Yami not so discreetly on his desk.

Yami never stopped his writing on one of the documents. "Actually, I have."

Not expecting that answer, the woman stuttered. "O-Oh, is that so…?" She stood that fidgeting, trying to say something but not having the courage to say it out loud.

Finishing off the document with his signature, Yami finally looked up at her. "Is there something else you wish to discuss besides sending these reports to me?"

"O-Oh! I-uh..." The woman shifted her eyes and timidly responded, "N-No...?"

Raising an eyebrow, Yami gave her one last look and focused back on the documents on his desk. "Then perhaps, you should return to your work."

Not wanting to embarrass herself further, the woman quickly bowed, "Y-Yes! I will take my leave."

The moment the door closed behind her, Yami stopped pretending to read the documents and heaved out a sigh. He placed his pen down and leaned his head on the back of his chair, staring at the ceiling blankly.

A beep from his intercom on his desk interrupted his dazed state. Almost lazily, he reached forward and pressed a button. "What is it?"

" _Inishie-sama, Kaiba-sama is on his way to meet you._ "

"Ah, thank you." Yami disconnected the call and returned back to his relaxing position, this time throwing an arm over his eyes and gave a sigh for good measure.

The door opening suddenly did not even jolt him a single bit.

"Yami, you-" Seto stopped himself at seeing the state of his cousin. "What are you doing?"

A sigh was expelled again. "Trying to think of ways to put myself out of this misery..."

The boss twitched at the sarcastic, and yet very serious comment. He then spotted the newspaper on the desk. Picking it up, he read it silently. "Did you not say that you were not concerned about this? How is Yugi taking this?"

"I am not and Aibo knows Atem would not do something like this, if that is what you are asking."

"Then why are you-" An elegant finger lifted up and jabbed a few times in Seto's direction. Icy blue eyes blinked a few times, before realizing that Yami was pointing behind him. Seto followed the finger's direction by turning his head. Mountains of newspapers, all the same as the one in his hand, were stacked at one corner. It was, Seto noted dryly, almost reaching the ceiling. "...How?"

"Every woman in the department." Yami sat up slowly with an irritated look. "While I may not care about the one publishing this or the attention it may gather, the fact that every single woman felt the need to give me a copy of the newspaper is an annoyance, to say the least."

Seto smirked. "They must be really desperate, grabbing any opportunities to break your relationships." He skillfully threw the newspaper in his hand to the back, where it landed neatly on one of the smaller pile of newspapers. "What are you going to do?"

Yami rubbed his temple. "Hopefully nothing. I am leaving this to Atem. This would all be easily solved once the truth comes out...if nothing else happens."

The boss cocked an eyebrow. "If nothing else happens?"

Yami gave a hum. "You wished to speak to me about something?"

Seto stared for a while and lifted the file that he had on his other hand the whole time. "You approved the sending of the duel disk to Paradius?"

"..." Yami leaned back on his chair. "I was wondering how long it would take for you to confront me about this."

"Why?"

The co-boss sighed, "It was with great reluctance from me before I decided to send it to them. I know very well that it is a risk to continue working with a company that held such bad reputations, even if it was not well known." Yami crossed his legs. "But, as you stated, there are no evidences. I simply do not have an excuse not to comply with their wishes. All they wanted was for the duel disk to be sold at their company, and honestly, it gives us more benefits. Half of their consumers are duelists, and that means more people are able to enjoy the funs of playing Duel Monsters through holograms with the duel disk."

There was a long silence.

Seto narrowed his eyes. "If what they did was the truth-"

"Then we will cut them off the contract with no hesitation." Yami assured. "Don't worry, Kaiba. I will make sure it won't end up like when Gozaburo, your father, was in charge."

The brunet male looked at Yami and averted his eyes away after a while.

A beep caused the two males to turn their heads to the intercom.

Yami answered the call. "What is it?"

" _U-Um, Inishie-sama...A Miss Vivian Wong would like to speak to you..._ " The two bosses were able to hear a faint noise of something, equivalent to a screeching of a hysterical woman, over the stuttering voice of Yami's secretary.

"..." Yami hung his head and quickly responded to his secretary. "I'm not here."

" _H-Huh? A-All righ-_ "

Yami ended the call before his secretary could finish. He lifted his head to see Seto raising an eyebrow at him.

"Out right lying? That's rare coming from you."

"I am not." Yami organized the papers on his desk, making them into a neat pile and placed them on one side. He stood up, walking past his cousin and taking his coat off the clothes rack near the door. "Since I am leaving."

"Where are you going?"

Yami gestured to the side with a thumb while shrugging his coat on and left without another word.

Seto listened to Yami's fading footsteps and glanced over to where Yami was pointing earlier. He was met with a clock.

It was noon.

* * *

 _ **A slight revenge**_

* * *

"Man, I wish that Atem would cook for us again." Katsuya complained good-naturedly, his hands carrying a lot of plastic bags. "His cooking skills are really nothing to scoff at."

Shizuka pouted as they walked towards their home. "Are you saying my cooking skills are bad? That's very mean of you, Onii-chan." She turned her head away, adjusting the groceries in her arms.

"Hey, hey. I didn't say that." Katsuya leaned towards her with a wide grin. "No matter how good his cooking is, your cooking is still the number one in my opinion. After all, it's filled with my beloved sister's love. No one can ever beat that! Think about it, to be stuffed full by my sister's love...what a wonderful way to die." Katsuya spread his arms wide and looked up at the sky. One could almost see angel light shining down on him.

"Ahh, Onii-chan!"

Shizuka chased after Katsuya with an arm in the air. The brother laughed and screamed in mock-horror. They ran around in circles, with Katsuya shouting about death by his sister's love and Shizuka squealing in embarrassment. The chase ended when Shizuka went ahead and turned around, sticking a tongue out.

"I will make sure you can't come inside the house!"

However, just as she was about to turn back around and dashed to their house, a hooded figure came rushing out from the side and bumped harshly onto her. Thankfully, Katsuya reacted quickly. He dropped everything in his hands and ran forward, just in time to catch his sister before she could fell to the ground. The bag of groceries on her arm, on the other hand, was not as lucky.

"Whoa, Shizuka!" Katsuya checked her worriedly for injuries. "Are you all right?!"

"A-Ah, yes. Just startled..." Shizuka stood up with the help of Katsuya.

After determining there were no injuries, Katsuya turned to the one responsible for this incident. "What's the big idea?!"

The hooded figure was groaning in pain on the ground after the collision. The moment Katsuya shouted at him, the figure squeaked and quickly stood up, dashing off while stepping on some of the oranges before the siblings could say another word.

"Hey! Apologize to my sister, you jerk!" Katsuya got ready to chase the person.

"Onii-chan! It's fine!" Shizuka quickly held onto one of Katsuya's arms to prevent him from hunting down the running figure. "Let it go, it was just an accident."

"But-!"

"It's fine." Shizuka placed her hands on her hips firmly and stared at her brother. Only when he slumped in defeat, did the sister smiled and kneeled down to pick up the dropped items. "Thank goodness it's just the oranges. Otherwise, we would have no dinner tonight."

"That just makes me want to catch them even more." Katsuya averted his eyes when Shizuka shot a disapproval look at him. "Still, they should have apologized instead of running away." He bent down to help his sister and retrieved the plastic bags he had dropped. "Running as though they did done something guilty..."

"That's rude, Onii-chan." Shizuka stood up after all the items were gathered up. "Maybe they were just in a hurry...and probably scared of you." The siblings continued walking to their home, stopping at the steps leading to their home.

"I'm not that bad!" Katsuya scowled.

Shizuka paused, keys hovering near the keyhole, to observe the scowling face. She nodded in realization. "Definitely scared of your face."

"Wha- come here, you!"

Katsuya was the one doing the chasing now. Shizuka quickly opened the door and ran into their house, with Katsuya following behind. Laughers could be heard echoing through the house.

However, throughout the day, Katsuya had this nagging feeling. Not able to discern what was the problem, he shrugged it off. It was only until later, did he finally figured out what was wrong.

That hooded figure had actually rushed out from Atem, Yami and Yugi's house.

* * *

 _ **A slight revenge**_

* * *

 _~Somewhere~_

The hooded figure slammed the door upon reaching inside the house, breathing heavily. "He...hehehehe. That was really close." He rubbed his hands together. "Once I get the pictures, all I had to do is write another article and him to-gah!"

Something, or someone, was roughly pushed onto him. Tumbling to the floor with that someone on top, the hooded figure flailed his arms in panic, thinking that he was being attacked. When there was no pain, the figure stopped his movements and looked up to see what had landed on him. "Wha-you!" The hooded person had to blink a couple of times to make sure it was who he thought it was, as the only light source was from a dimmed bulb, and pointed at the one on top of him. "W-What are you doing here?! I will get found out if anyone saw you coming here!"

"Ow...shut up!" The other person adjusted his red beanie cap. "I don't exactly have a choice, you idiot!"

"What are you-" The hooded figure was cut off when two silhouettes stepped forward. "W-Who's there?!"

"Really," One of them came forward to the light, ruffling his reddish-brown hair. "It took you this long to know that there are other people in the room? The both of you gave criminals a bad name, you know, and I meant it in a way that, you both are actually the lousiest criminals I have ever met." Hermos gave them a pitiful wince.

The one with the cap pointed rudely at Hermos. "Who are you calling a criminal?!"

"Lousiest?!" The hooded figure scowled.

"Enough. We did not come here to argue." A man with blond hair came forward this time. "We will say our piece, and you can choose to take it or leave it."

"Just who are the both of you?!" The hooded figure stomped his foot. "You can't just come to my house and make any demands! This is an intrusion! I will call the police!"

"That's right! That's right!" The one with the cap added. "I could report you for kidnapping as well as threatening a civilian!"

Hermos snorted at those useless scare tactics. "I don't think either of you are in any position to call the police." He rolled his eyes. "Exactly who will benefit more? Us, for kidnapping or intruding your house as you said, or you," Yellow eyes narrowed dangerously. "Mr. IQ," He stared at the hooded figure then move on to the other, "and his accomplice, the publisher?"

The two gulped, feeling as though they were treading on thin ice.

"The both of you are not even real reporters or publishers." Hermos growled. "You only managed to sneak your article in because you drugged the original publisher and took their place." He sharply glanced at the one with the cap. A flinch was given at the harsh look. "It's not even known if they are still alive, I could have you arrested for murder!"

"W-We didn't kill him!"

"He's not dead!"

The other two denied the accusation hysterically, shaking their heads. "We only knocked him out and placed him in the basement!"

"Hermos." The blond man put a stop to this by placing a hand on Hermos' shoulder. "Enough, this is not what we are here for."

"I don't like this, Critias. I don't like this at all." Hermos glared viciously at the two. "It's because of them that-!" He cursed under his breath. "It made him feel like, this is the chance to act! After so much we have done...!"

Critias patted the shoulder one more time and turned his attention the trembling two. "We are here to make a deal."

"A-A Deal?" Reporter IQ relaxed a little at hearing that.

"Our...leader," Critias took a deep breath. "Had shown an interest to what you are doing. Are we correct in assuming that you wished to separate Jibade Atem, Inishie Yami and Muto Yugi?"

"What about it? They deserved it for what they did to me!" IQ folded his arms petulantly.

"Me as well." The faked publisher sniffed haughtily.

A slight snarl appeared on Hermos' face. However, Critias continued before the man could attack the two seemingly childish men.

"If you succeed in separating them," Critias pulled out a stack of cash from his pocket and threw it to the ground. "Our leader will be more than willing to pay you."

The fake reporter and publisher gasped and dazedly moved forward, their eyes on the money the whole time. A foot stomped on top of the money before those greedy hands could snatch it off. Stunned by the sudden action, they looked up to see a pair of emotionless dark blue eyes and disgusted yellow eyes staring them down.

"Only," Critias leveled his eyes on them. "If you succeed in the task."

The fake publisher snapped out of it first. "W-Wait. Why do we have to listen to you in the first place? What do you all have against the three of them anyways?"

"The pay can be tripled if you separated them and if you managed to ruin their careers." Critias added without answering any of the questions.

"Deal!" IQ smirked.

"O-Oi...!" The fake publisher quickly dragged IQ to a corner. "What are you doing?! We only planned to humiliate them, right? If we get caught, we won't get out unscathed!"

"Don't be a coward now." IQ smacked the other on the head. "And please, we are dead anyways even if we don't do this. We are messing with part of the Kaiba family after all." He dropped an arm on the publisher's shoulder. "Besides, I already planned to do all that regardless of what they say."

"Y-You did?"

"Of course." IQ scoffed. "I will make them regret messing with me, and I will take back what should have belonged to me. Think about it, this is more beneficial to us! Not only do we get to do what we planned, we also get money!"

"I...guess you have a point."

They then turned to Critias and Hermos.

"We'll do it."

Critias tilted his head. "Pleasure doing business with you."

* * *

 _ **A slight revenge**_

* * *

"Hermos. Hermos. Her-" Critias ceased the callings when Hermos stopped stomping away and turned his head around, glaring at him. He stifled a sigh, "Getting angry at me won't make things better."

"I know!" Hermos shifted his glare to the people who had stopped to look at him at his outburst. He lowered his voice once those people scurried away. "I...know." Hermos kneeled down and clutched his head in agony. "Why Critias...Why did he suddenly changed-!"

"..." Critias looked up at the darkening sky. "Timaeus will be making his move soon."

Hermos choked down a scream that was desperately trying to make itself known.

"Don't despair." Critias walked on, leaving Hermos to stare at his back.

"At least we are able to do something now."

* * *

 _ **A slight revenge**_

* * *

"Thank you for shopping at Kame Game shop. We hoped to see you again!" A ring from the doorbell signalled that the customer had left the shop.

Yugi wiped his forehead with the back of his hand. "We sure have a lot of customers today. Thank goodness we are closing in a while."

"Yugi, why don't you take a break?" Sugoroku bent down to pick up a box from the ground. "I will stock up the supplies-Urgh!"

"Grandpa!" Yugi quickly went to Sugoroku, who was stuck at the bending position.

"M-My back..."

"Ehhhhh! M-Mom! Grandpa has sprained his back again! Really grandpa," Yugi lectured while carefully leading Sugoroku to a chair. "Think about your health! You are not as young as you think you are!"

"That really hurts, Yugi. It really hurts." Sugoroku widened his eyes in an attempt to play the pitiful victim, to which Yugi shook his head in exasperated fondness.

"I have brought the ointment." Yugi's mother appeared with a bottle on hand.

"Thanks, mum. Now hold still, grandpa."

"Yes, yes."

Just outside the store, Timaeus could be seen watching the family interaction through the windows. Aqua eyes were fixed on Yugi as he laughed together with his mother at the pout coming from Sugoroku.

Hands clenched tightly at his side.

Taking a few deep breaths, Timaeus lifted his head high and strode towards the shop's door.

"...I'm sorry"

~To Be Continued~

* * *

 _Our trio is facing troubles now…The mystery thickens…_

 _Atem, Yami & Yugi: I think you mean plot, not mystery_

 _Marisay-chan: Shush…_

 _The newspaper is causing all kinds of trouble, isn't it? Life's no fun without a few…problems, so to say. It will get worse before it gets better._

 _I was suppose to finish the newspaper problem with this chapter, but as I continue writing, more stuff came up, so…*Shrugs*_

 _Things to note:_

 _Miso soup – A traditional Japanese soup_

 _Habibi – Means my love or my beloved in Arabic_

 _Tofu – Also known as bean curd. A food made by coagulating soy milk and pressed into soft white blocks_

 _For those who don't understand where Yami had went – He went out for lunch (*Sweatdrops* I know)_

 ** _Omake:_**

 ** _Understand that, he was normally a person who was not that easily irritated by the antics of others. Not that other people would try to annoy him, he was one of their bosses after all. However…_**

 ** _A crimson eye twitched heavily._**

 **" _I have only been away for an hour…"_**

 ** _Yami had came back to his office room. Said room was…filled with newspapers. His desk, his chair, the couch for visitors and everywhere on the floor! Not a single area was spared; Yami could even see a newspaper tucked skillfully behind a wall painting._**

 ** _He picked up one of the newspaper from the floor and stared at it. With a heavy sigh, Yami trudged carefully through the newspaper decorated floor to reach the desk._**

 ** _~A few minutes later~_**

 ** _Yami's secretary nervously knocked on the door twice before opening it. "I-Inishie-sama? You called for me-" The rest of the words stuck on his throat at the state of the room. "W-Wha-!"_**

 **" _Indeed." The secretary gave a muted yelp at the aura Yami was giving off. "Would you care to explain this to me, Yamamoto?" The way Yami had sat on his chair, elbows on the table, fingers crossed causally and eyes looking at him with 'curiosity', was enough to make him sweat heavily under his clothes._**

 ** _It did not take him long to admit that he was forced to allow the women to come inside his office to give him 'reports'. Thoroughly irritated, Yami told him to clean the whole mess up and sent him out the moment he was done with the cleaning._**

 ** _Taking advantage of the peace, Yami folded his arms on the table and rested his head on top. A familiar tune broke him out of his peaceful state. Reaching out a hand to grab his phone, he peeked an eye above his arms to read the messages that was sent to him._**

 ** _All forms of irritation melted into nonexistence, and a smile involuntarily made its way to Yami's face._**

 ** _It was from his lovers._**

 ** _Do your best! -Y_**

 ** _I will make it up to you -A_**

 ** _Yami chuckled. He was really lucky to have such thoughtful lovers. It was almost as if they knew how he was feeling now and tried to make him feel better. Though, they probably did know what he would be facing at work today._**

 ** _The buzzing of the intercom dampened his mood. He pressed the button, "What?"_**

 **" _I-I am sorry to disturb you, Inishie-sama! B-But, Miss Wong is-"_**

 **" _I am not taking her calls." Yami pinched the bridge of his nose. "I do not care what you do, Yamamoto, but find a way to make sure that she does not call again."_**

 ** _Without waiting for a response, he ended the call._**

 ** _By then, it was quite clear to everyone in the building that Yami was not in the best of moods and did their best not to worsen the situation. The rest of the day went off without any more nuisances, which suited Yami just fine._**

 ** _Until…_**

 **" _Here are the rest of the documents, Inishie-sama." A beautiful lady bowed and placed the file on the desk. She then left when Yami nodded. The crimson-eyed man absently thought that she might have left a bit too quickly, but he was just probably thinking too much about it._**

 ** _Opening the file, Yami felt veins popping all over his head. Or not._**

 ** _A cut out picture of Atem and Anzu lay innocently inside the file._**

 ** _Atem had better have this fixed as soon as possible, otherwise he would not be held responsible for his action._**

 ** _~With Atem~_**

 ** _For some unknown reason, Atem found himself shivering. He looked around apprehensively._**

 **" _My imagination…?"_**

 _That's all folks! Do tell me what you think in a review!_


	7. Ending resolutions

_Marisay-chan finally managing to write here! Off to the story we go!_

 _To_ _ **Akayuki Novak**_ _: You shall find out in this chapter *Grins*_

 _To_ _ **thor94**_ _: Don't be like this *Pouts* You made me really wanting to write a lemon now…I am such a pervert *Covers face in embarrassment*_

 _To 'Guest': I am sorry to say that I do not have one. I found out that I can't handle too many accounts in one go, it's way too confusing for me *Swirling eyes*_

 _To everyone else: Thank you for your continued support! I hope this chapter will satisfy all of you!_

 _Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters, only the story ^.^_

 _In Italics are thoughts_

 **In bold are flashbacks**

 _ **In bold and Italics are thoughts in flashbacks**_

 _~Story Starts~_

* * *

"Where is it?!" A pair of hands frantically swept through the bushes, not caring when it received cuts and scratches from the violent action. "It has to be here somewhere!"

With a frustrated grunt, those hands continued searching.

* * *

 _ **A desperate attempt**_

* * *

A sharp slap of a newspaper hitting the table startled a pair of eyes away from the camera screen they were looking at.

Mana stood there with her hands on her hips, eyes practically on fire. A blind man could see that she was more than just mad. Though, in the eyes of others, it was more of a really, really angry pout.

At least, it was in Atem's eyes. Blinking a few times, Atem stared at her in stunned surprise at the angered action. When he did not get a response except the angry stare, he drifted his eyes down to the newspaper. The words 'Mazaki Anzu engaged!' met his weary eyes.

He sighed.

"That's all you have to say to me?! A sigh?!" Mana slammed her hands on the table. "What do you have to say for yourself?! I was already restraining myself when I saw the newspaper a few days ago about you and that celebrity, and thought that it would be resolved soon. Then this," She roughly picked up the newspaper on the table and waved it in front of Atem. "Happened! She told the media that she is engaged to you! Did you really propose to her? Why were you kissing her hand? What about Yami and Yugi? What are they going to think? Answer me!" She yelled in frustration when she saw Atem focusing back on his camera.

"Mana," Mahado frowned, coming forward to place a hand on the agitated lady's shoulder. "This is really none of our business-" He ignored the shout of 'This is totally my business!' from Mana. "Leave pharaoh alone, he has a lot to think about without you making things worse." Brown eyes shifted to his boss's profile. "Although, I should apologize to you, pharaoh. If only I was not so soft...she might not have the chance to tell you about her feelings and this whole situation would not have happened."

"You are a part of this?" Teal eyes narrowed dangerously.

Mahado avoided his co-worker's eyes, which he knew was shooting lasers at him. Both of them stopped their silent conflict at the sigh Atem gave. The photographer set his camera on the table heavily, rubbing his forehead with one hand as he slouched forward.

Mahado and Mana looked on worriedly. This was the first time they ever saw Atem so stressed out.

"...I'm sorry, pharaoh."

"I-It's all right! We can fix this!" Mana tried to assure her boss. Even if she was angry at him, it did not mean that she enjoyed seeing Atem looking so stressed.

"There's no need to apologize, my friend." Atem waved a hand tiredly. "And it's fine, Mana. I just..." He lifted his head and covered one of his eyes with a palm. "I just don't understand why she is saying all these. I have thought that..." He trailed off, not wishing to think badly about the person whom had worked with him for so long.

"Perhaps she was framed?" Mahado gave a distrusting glance at the newspaper. "Like how it was framing you?"

"It was on television too." Mana rested her weight on her right leg and gave Mahado a helpless look. "She gave a few short and vague answers to a group of reporters and it was broadcasted on television. Although she did not say it bluntly, she all but implied that she is engaged to Atem."

"Suffering from heartbreak it is." Mahado concluded with a heavy sigh. "People rarely think logically when hurt." Brown eyes looked sympathetically at Atem. "If I may, pharaoh, but have you tried contacting Mazaki-san about this?"

The hand over his eye curled into a fist. "She did not answer her phone. Her manager, Aileen, said that she does not wish to speak to me when I phoned to her instead." A humorless chuckle escaped. "Rarely think logically when hurt...huh? How true..."

"That does not excuse her!" Mana threw her hands high up.

"No." The photographer agreed. "But, it does makes it understandable. After all," Atem's eyes softened. "There was a time I did something similar. But," He continued before either of them could question him. "That is not what I am concerned about."

The two employees looked at each other in confusion as Atem stood up and headed to his bag. Digging through it, Atem presented another newspaper to Mahado.

Mana slumped at the sight of it, "I don't want to read another newspaper. It's all about her and her...lies. How could you not be worried about this?" Mana furrowed her eyebrows.

"W-What is this?"

"Eh?" Mana glanced at Mahado at the sudden outburst.

Brown eyes worriedly read the newspaper Atem had given him, his hands wrinkling the newspaper as he read on. " 'The Mysterious Third Party: The rumors regarding about the photographer having a third interest has just been confirmed. It remains to be seen if Mazaki Anzu knew about this. The third member is a young male known as Muto Yugi-' "

"What?!" Mana quickly snatched the paper out of Mahado's hands, not caring if she was being rude. However, Mahado seemed not to notice it, for he stared widely at Atem after the newspaper was snatched out of his hands. "W-What is going on?!"

"Why...?" Mahado gestured to the newspaper in a helpless way. "Why did this newspaper had a different news on it and why..." He paused, not wanting to continue but needing to know the answer. "Why was Yugi's name mentioned in it? They did not even mention your name."

A dark look settled over Atem's face. "I would like to know as well. That's not all. Flip to the next page."

Mana did as instructed and turned the page. An involuntary gasp came out.

On the next page, was a picture that was obviously taken through a window and had Atem and Yugi in it. Sharing a kiss.

"Whoever this reporter is, they know where you live." Mahado narrowed his eyes at the picture. "And had intimate information about you."

"And Yugi's too." Atem shot a scornful look at the newspaper. "It was reported by the same reporter that framed me and Anzu a few days back. According to Yami, it seemed to be a person whom is seeking revenge against us. No, I don't know who it is. Yami is not entirely sure as well." He answered the question that Mana was about to ask. "It was supposed to be just a childish revenge as it seems and so we were not that concerned about it when the newspaper first came out. It can be easily knocked down if the truth came out and if research was done on me, since most of the facts written were entirely false. It loses credibility. But..."

"Mazaki-san came forward." Mahado finished with a sigh. "No matter how false most of the facts are, since Mazaki-san had, more or less, confirmed it, readers will overlook those details and focused on the main point, which is the engagement talk." He used a finger to lift the newspaper up to see the name of it. "To make matters worse, this newspaper company is one of the famous ones. More than one third of the population reads this."

"That's not even the worse of it." Atem muttered. "The thing is that, this newspaper had mentioned Yugi's name...and the place he is working at."

"Kame game shop?" Mana confirmed.

A stiff nod. "If the person mentioned was Yami, he will at least have some protection. But Yugi..."

Mahado clenched his teeth. "Everybody is able to freely go in and out of the shop. If any of Mazaki-san's fans caught wind of this information..."

Mana unconsciously crushed the newspaper in horror realization.

"Things could end up badly for Yugi."

* * *

 _ **A desperate attempt**_

* * *

"Mazaki-san! Mazaki-san!"

Flashes and clicking of cameras persisted on as Anzu walked towards the building with Aileen and some bodyguards making way for her through the sea of reporters.

"Mazaki-san, could you please elaborate more about the engagement?"

"Mazaki-san, how long have you been together with this photographer of yours?"

"Mazaki-san, what are you going to do if it was found out that your fiancé had another lover out there?"

"Mazaki-san, are you going to confront Muto Yugi for stealing your fiancé?"

Anzu jerked to a stop and turned to the reporter asking her that last question. "What did you just say?"

That reporter became excited at the attention given to him. "Muto Yugi. That's the name of the one whom your fiancé seems to be cheating with. Or perhaps you have not known about this?"

Ignoring the smug look, Anzu snapped out, "What are you talking about? How did you know that name?"

Faltering slightly at the angered tone, the reporter gave an unsure smile as other reporters looked on in interest, "A-Apparently, 'Japan Times' was able to get the name of the third member. There was even a photo to prove it..." He recovered from the slight hesitation and continued his questions. "Now that you know about this, what are you going to do?"

"All right, that's enough." Aileen quickly pulled Anzu away and led her inside the building. The bodyguards formed a barrier at the closing doors, preventing the reporters from going inside the building.

"What are they talking about, Aileen?" Anzu turned to her manager once they went inside the elevator. "I did not mention any names..."

Her manager's response was to fish out a newspaper and thrust it to her. Anzu bit her lips when she noticed Aileen not sparing her a glance. Taking the newspaper, she skimmed through it. A heavy silence settled between them. A ding from the elevator indicated that they had reached their floor.

Aileen stepped out of the lift.

"Are you...angry with me?"

The manager glanced back and saw Anzu staring at the newspaper, eyes obviously not reading it.

"..." Aileen gave a crooked smile. "I don't think it matters whether I am or not, Anzu. I am only your manager and instructor. Your romance affair is not within my line of work. This...event is also bringing you more popularity, you are actually gaining more fans due to people sympathizing you. So there is not much for me to say." She paused to let the information sank in. "However..." Aileen shifted her eyes. "I'm sure I don't need to tell you that this would damage your relationship with Mr. Jibade?"

The scrunching sound of the newspaper replied to her.

The instructor closed her eyes and continued moving forward.

"It's your choice. Just make sure you don't regret it."

* * *

 _ **A desperate attempt**_

* * *

"Yes. Yes."

Seto opened the door to find Yami on the phone. He received a nod in greeting before the attention was back on the phone.

"Yes." Yami listened to the person on the other side of the phone while passing a folder to the boss. "Just knowing his location will be fine with me. I will let you handle the rest."

Peering his eyes above the folder Yami had passed him, Seto raised an eyebrow at the parts of conversation he was hearing. Knowing his location? Was Yami talking to a-

"Yes. However, I believe he is not working alone." Yami noticed the look and gave a tired glance in return, and gestured to his desk with his head. Seto followed and saw a copy of 'Japan Times' lying there. "There might be an accomplice...Yes. I will send you whatever I know through E-mail. Yes. Thank you, Mr. Detective."

"A detective?" Seto questioned the moment Yami disconnected the call. "You could have just used my system. I could easily track down the person doing this."

A smile made its way to Yami's face. "Thank you, Kaiba. But..." Yami traced the picture that had his lovers on it. "I promised myself that I would not use the Kaiba's influences when it comes to my loves." He winked playfully. "Why do you think we took such a long time to find a house?"

"Romantic fool."

"You are the third person to say that to me." Yami chuckled at the blank look he was given. "Besides," Crimson eyes glowed sinisterly. "I wish to catch this nuisance with my own means."

* * *

 _ **A desperate attempt**_

* * *

"What a fabulous turn of event." A man smiled, sipping on a glass of red wine. "If everything goes well, I will have my price sooner than later." He swirled the wine glass around, watching the red liquid flowed amusingly.

He slowly stood up and walked towards a bed that had light green curtains over it.

"Soon..." A smile grew twisted as he raised his wine glass up high, as if giving a toast.

An eerie chuckle sounded out, and slowly turning into a loud laugh, which echoed through the room.

 _~Somewhere nearby~_

Hermos punched a fist onto the wall, making a sickening thud at the impact. He gritted his teeth, eyes shut tightly at the sound of the laughter. Near him, Critias was seen with his arms folded, eyes looking at the ground.

A sniffle caught their attention.

Turning their heads, they spotted a young girl standing there with her hands clenched together. Not knowing what to say, the men looked away, one in shame and another in helplessness.

The sight only caused the girl to sob even more. Her hands slowly came up, resting near her chest in a form of prayer while trying to stifle her cries.

Clenching his hands, Hermos felt that the sounds coming from the girl was louder than the laugh that could heard ringing through the place.

* * *

 _ **A desperate attempt**_

* * *

 _~Kame game shop~_

"Shoo, shoo!" Sugoroku grabbed a broom and started whacking it around, trying to get rid of the few reporters whom just did not seemed to get the hint. "If you do not leave this instant, I will show you that I am not a grandfather for nothing. I will spank you and make sure it gets publish out in that newspaper of yours!"

Gawking at the threat and the fact that Sugoroku was coming their way with the said intention, the reporters had no choice but to run as though the devil were chasing them.

Sugoroku huffed at the retreating reporters, placing his broom down. "Youngsters."

He went into the shop and placed the broom aside. The old man turned his head and gave a small sigh.

Yugi stood behind the counter, fidgeting and biting his lips. He was wiping the counter but his eyes were not focused. Every now and then, he would let out a sigh through the nose.

"They are gone, Yugi." The elderly went up to the counter and patted his grandson's hand. "It will be fine."

Yugi glanced at his grandfather and looked back down. "I'm sorry, grandpa."

"No apologies needed. I would do anything for my most wonderful and beloved grandson."

Yugi gave a weak chuckle. "I'm your only grandson."

"Details." Sugoroku waved a hand dismissively.

They shared a laugh until a chime from the bell informed them they had a customer. Immediately they tensed up, fearing it to be another reporter or someone hostile.

Lifting his head up, Timaeus found himself raising his hands in a surrender pose at the broom pointing towards his throat threateningly. "A rather...unusual welcome, Mr. Muto."

"Ah." Sugoroku hurriedly lowered the broom. "Sorry, young lad. Today's been...unusual. Well, come on in."

"Timaeus-san!" Yugi went around the counter and looked on worriedly. "Sorry about that! Are you all right?"

"Yes." Timaeus smiled, before it faded away. "...Are you?"

A weak smile was shown. "It will be fine." Yugi bit his lip again and nodded hesitantly. "It will be."

A soft glimmer flashed in those aqua eyes.

"Well, I will go get some refreshments." Sugoroku patted his chest tiredly. "Have to calm down before my heart burst from all this excitement. It's only a speech, Yugi." He assured when Yugi snapped his head to him at the declaration. "Well, take care of Yugi while I go take the refreshments, lad."

"I'm not a child, grandpa." Yugi pouted as Sugoroku walked off. His pout deepened when Sugoroku shouted back his reply.

"You are always one to me!"

A chuckle reminded Yugi that there was someone else watching the childish argument. A flush burned its way into Yugi's face.

"No need for embarrassment. It's really refreshing to see such heart warming scene."

Yugi mouthed the last three words in shy-embarrassment. For an outsider to be witnessing this made Yugi wished that there was a hole for him to hide in.

Shaking his head, Timaeus looked around the shop. "So, is there anything new for me to browse today?"

Since the news of Atem and Anzu first came out, Timaeus had been visiting the shop. While they were very wary, Yugi having heard the rumors from his lovers and Sugoroku from his grandson, the Mutos were willing to give the benefit of doubt as Timaeus had been nothing but a gentleman and sincerely interested in the products of their shop.

Back when Timaeus had announced that no harm would ever come to them at the ball, Yugi knew deep down that he meant it. He just knew. Timaeus was a good person...right?

"Why don't you try Duel Monster, Timaeus-san?" Yugi went back to the counter and started searching for some games for his customer. "Since you are mostly interested in card games."

"Ah." The teal-black haired man leaned his weight on the counter casually. "I'm afraid that I just do not have the skill for it. I do wish to challenge the 'King of Games' though; they say he is brilliant in Duel Monsters."

Yugi ducked down to hide his expression, feeling slightly awkward that Timaeus had no idea that the mentioned person was just right in front. "I-I see. I hope you get to challenge him then."

"Indeed." Something swirled inside the aqua eyes before it darting away to a box that held Duel Monster booster packs. Picking a few up, Timaeus placed them side-by-side, trying to see which is better. "I have a card that is named after me, however."

"Eh? Really?"

"It was a gift." Timaeus gave up the comparison and simply chose one of each different art printed on the plastic packs. "From the creator, Pegasus, himself. "

"That's really amazing!"

Timaeus laughed at the sparkling look. He reached into the coat he was wearing and pulled out a cardholder for one. "Here."

"Eh? Is it all right of me to..." Yugi looked at the cardholder and back to the one holding it.

Timaeus gave a reassuring nod and gestured with the cardholder.

Yugi slowly reached for the cardholder with both hands. Just as he lift it away from Timaeus's hand, that same hand shot forward and grabbed Yugi's right wrist and slid it sensually up to the tips of Yugi's fingers, before it fell away.

Yugi jerked his hands back to himself in shock. D-Did Timaeus just-?! The motion was too fast for Yugi to confirm if it really did happened. When he looked up, Timaeus had a warm smile on and a look of patient as he waited for Yugi to see what was inside the cardholder. It was as though nothing unusual had happened.

 _M-Must be my imagination..._

Yugi tilted his head and blinked a couple of times to bring himself back. He then dismissed the incident and focused his attention on the cardholder. In doing so, he missed the amused glint twinkling within Timaeus's eyes.

Slowly, he opened the cardholder, and was faced with the owner of the card himself. The only difference was that, the Timaeus on the card was wearing a green armor and holding on to a sword. Athemyst eyes flickered to the top of the card.

"Legendary Knight Timaeus?"

"A joke from the creator." Timaeus shook his head amusingly. "As you may or may not have noticed, my companions and I are named after the characters in two of Plato's dialogues; Timaeus and Critias. Since it features Atlantis, a fictional island, Pegasus saw us as a representation of Atlantis being real. Hence, the card. Critias and Hermos each have similar cards as well."

Yugi thought about that information. "What about Hermos-san?" Yugi remembered the reddish-brown haired man he met during the ball. "I noticed you only mentioned two of the dialogues."

"Hermos is named after a character called Hermocrates in the dialogue of Critias. Unfortunately, Plato never did complete Critias. Hermocrates was said to be a dialogue that was suppose to come after Critias." Timaeus placed a finger on his lips and closed his one of his eyes. "Perhaps that's why Hermos's a bit temperamental at times. But of course, you did not hear this from me."

Yugi giggled behind a hand as he returned the cardholder to Timaeus.

A chime had Yugi peeking his head away from Timaeus' body, since he was directly in front. "Welcome to Kame game shop."

A man was looking to the right of the shop and then to the left, before resting his eyes on Yugi, who had came forward to help the customer.

"Is there something you are looking for?"

"..." The man furrowed his eyebrows and stared at Yugi.

Timaeus narrowed his eyes.

The man reached to his back pocket. "There is something you can help me with."

In a flash, Yugi found himself in a protective embrace, followed by a squashing sound.

"Take you and your freak self away from here!" The man shouted.

Timaeus let go Yugi and pushed him behind, standing protectively in front of Yugi. "Sir, don't you think it is a little rude to attack someone like that?"

Standing behind, Yugi could see a splatter of red decorating Timaeus' clothes. In a moment of panic, Yugi felt his heart froze, thinking that Timaeus had been stabbed, only to relax a little when he smelt a sweet scent coming from there.

 _Tomatoes..._

The man scowled. "So even that is not enough, huh? You managed to find another man to play with?!"

"Watch your words." Timaeus bit out. "Do not jump into any conclusion without confirming the facts."

"Apparently he had brainwashed you as well." The man reached to the side and swiped down a couple of displayed games down to the ground.

Timaeus shifted as the man moved, making sure that Yugi was behind him at all times.

"So it's not enough that you are ruining Anzu-chan's life. You," The man had a disgusted look on his face. "Just had to run around and spread your legs for anyone, huh? Disgusting freak."

Feeling the trembles of the one behind him, Timaeus decided that the man had over welcomed his stay. "It is obviously you are a fan of the celebrity. However, like I said before, do not jump to any conclusion without confirming the facts. Leave, otherwise there will be consequences."

The fan merely sneered and spoke out loud to the hidden man. "Wonder who exactly are your parents? Did they know about your disgusting nature? Or," The fan laughed maliciously. "Are they the ones encouraging you? Your parents must be the one to teach you how to please men. Taught you how to please a man by giving you practices, I'm sure."

A choked gasp had Timaeus grabbing the front shirt of the man, lifting him off the ground.

Sounds of cans hitting the ground caused everyone to turn their heads.

Sugoroku pinned his eyes on the unknown man, expression strangely blank. The refreshments he had brought up were all scattered on the floor. "What...did you just say to my grandson?"

Unconsciously, Timaeus loosened his grip on the unknown fan. Something about the way Sugoroku spoke and acted made Timaeus uneasy. Really uneasy.

The man took advantage of the slackened grip and jerked himself away. Getting cocky, he marched up to the elderly and jabbed a finger towards him. "You heard me loud and clear. You must be really ashamed to have such a thing in your house." He turned his attention to Yugi, voice taking on a babyish tone. "Muto Yugi, huh? Your name practically means game. How ironic. Just wait and see when that man, whoever he is, plays you like a game! He was probably using you while he tries to come on to our beautiful Anzu-chan." Ha had a dreamy look before it turned into a snarl when facing with the wide-eyed Yugi. "You are nothing! Nothing but a piece of freak! That guy will use you, play with you, and throw you out the moment he lost interest like a useless game that you are!"

Timaeus was about to grab that man again and threw him out of the store when a broom came out of nowhere and hit directly on the stomach of that man.

"OUT!" Sugoroku did not give the man a chance to recover, immediately striking the legs, which earned a loud howl of pain from the man. "HOW DARE YOU!"

"Mr. Muto!" Timaeus quickly blocked Sugoroku's way, holding his arms. "Please calm down!"

"YOU KNOW NOTHING, NOTHING ABOUT WHAT MY GRANDSON HAD GONE THROUGH." Sugoroku managed to slip an arm passed Timaeus' hold and threw the broom at the man, who suddenly lost his confidence and was cowering at one corner. "LET GO! HOW DARE YOU TALK AS IF YOU KNOW HIM! IT WAS PEOPLE LIKE YOU WHO CAUSED HIM TO LOSE HIS SELF-ESTEEM." His face was totally red from all the shouting. "LEAVE! LEAVE!"

"I suggest you leave before I lose my grip." Timaeus strained his voice as he struggled to hold the old man back, while managing to send a glare at the unknown man.

"W-Whatever!" The man managed to say. "I-I can sue you!" He stood up, wincing at the pain on his legs. "I will sue you and your disgusting grandson!"

In a rage, Sugoroku broke away from Timaeus and snatched the broom from the floor.

The man gave a yelp at the sight of the broom coming down upon him, blocking his face with his arms. When no pain came, he peeked out and saw Timaeus preventing the broom from landing on him with both hands.

"LEAVE!" Timaeus bellowed.

The man quickly scurried out of the shop, shouting about making them pay for injuring him. He was just in time as well, as Sugoroku had wrestled the broom away from Timaeus and threw it straight at the closing door, where it made a loud sound at the impact before falling to the ground with a clatter.

Pantings were the only sound heard after the whole commotion. Timaeus was panting a little as well, the adrenaline rush that came was slowly subsiding. Aqua eyes glanced at the old man. He shivered. The near 80-year-old man managed to fight on par with a young man like himself just to defend his own blood. Timaeus had to be careful not to anger the man.

Timaeus then turned to look at the other person in the room.

Yugi still had the wide-eyed look, breathing unevenly. The glossy gaze he had was really a cause of concern.

"...Yugi?" Timaeus gently called out, afraid of frightening him. But it was all for naught, for Yugi gasped and looked at him shakily. His unseeing look informed Timaeus that Yugi was trapped within whatever he was thinking of. "Yugi, are you-"

"What happened?"

Timaeus turned towards the door and saw Yugi's mother had returned from her shopping, judging from the bags on her hands, looking confused at the scene. "Ah, this is..."

Just then, Sugoroku dropped to his knees and a hand was clenching on his shirt where his heart was.

"Father!" Yugi's mother dropped everything in her hands and rushed up to Sugoroku. "What's wrong?!"

Timaeus rushed up as well, trying to gauge the seriousness. "Mr. Muto, what is the matter? Are you all right?"

The voices penetrated Yugi's mind. His fuzzy vision slowly focused on the image of his grandfather on the ground and his mother and Timaeus huddling near him. "G-Grandpa?!" He quickly dashed over and kneeled in front of the elderly. "Grandpa, what's wrong?!"

Sugoroku managed a weak smile. "N-Nothing...just...just give me a moment to-" Violet eyes slowly rolled up to the ceiling and eyelids went shut.

It was as if everything had slowed down as Sugoroku fell forward. It was only until he had landed on the floor with a soft thump, did a reaction finally came.

"GRANDPA!"

* * *

 _ **A desperate attempt**_

* * *

 _~KC lobby~_

Seto and Yami were just about to walk out of Kaiba Corporation building when they noticed a commotion at the front entrance.

"What is going on?" Yami blinked at the amount of security guards present. There were at least ten of them.

Seto was going to find out. He sauntered up to the scene and demanded answers from one of the guards. "What is with the commotion?"

"Kaiba-sama!" The guard saluted and glanced at the entrance way. "Erm...there's someone who kept wanting to see Inishie-sama and was making quite a racket when he was denied entry due to not having an appointment."

"Me?" Yami came forward just in time to catch what the guard had said. "Who is it?"

A shout caused them to bring their conversation to a stop.

Seto decided to take matters into his own hands and pushed his way past the guards. He came face to face with the one causing the trouble. "Who do you think you are, making a scene at my building. Get lost."

"I don't care what you think!" That person placed his feet firmly on the ground. "I know Yami is in there! He has to know what I found! It's important!"

"Get this fool away from my building." Seto pointed a finger at that person while looking at the guards.

"Who do you think you are?!"

"That voice..." Yami quickly made his way to the front. His suspicions were confirmed when he saw who that person was. "Jounouchi-kun!"

"Yami!" Katsuya lit up at the sight of him. He was about to head to him when three guards came and forced him to stay still. "Let go!"

"Wait." Yami halted the guards. "He's a friend."

Seto frowned but gestured the guards to free Katsuya, who immediately went up to Yami.

"I'm so sorry, Yami! If only...if only at that time I-!"

"Now, he apologizes." Seto snorted. "Stop wasting our time and say what was it that you had to make a fool out of yourself at my building."

"What did you say?!" Katsuya growled and raised a fist at Seto.

"Jounouchi-kun," Yami cut in before things escalated further. "What are you talking about? Why are you apologizing?"

"This!" A hand was shoved towards the co-boss.

"...An insect?" A pair of crimson eyes stared in bewilderment at the beetle on Katsuya's palm, which was filled with injuries.

"Great, now we have a lunatic. Security!" Seto had enough of this nonsense.

"It's not just an insect! Back off!" Katsuya warned the guards with a snarl. "Look carefully." In front of everyone present, Katsuya dug and broke one of the wings on the beetle. Inside, instead of the expected disgusting scene, sparks actually came out due to the wing being forcibly removed. Machinery was seen instead. Katsuya lifted the beetle, letting Yami see the eyes of the beetle. "It's a camera."

"Do you want an applause?" Seto droned. "So even a mediocre person like you have special cameras. Is that such a big deal?"

"It's not mine!" Katsuya stomped his foot and pointed at the boss. "And what did you just called me?!"

"...Where did you find this, Jounouchi-kun?" Yami had an odd look present as he further examined the beetle camera.

Brown eyes hardened. "At the bushes near your house."

The crimson-eyed man pursed his lips. A ringing of the phone had Yami retrieving the device from his pocket. "Yami speaking."

"So someone was spying through this camera, huh?" Seto took said device with two fingers. "This is an invasion of privacy. Whoever did this is going to get a lawsuit."

"Good thing I found this, huh? It's important evidence."

"I suppose even a fool has its uses."

"You want a fight?!"

"What?!"

Seto and Katsuya stopped their argument and turned to Yami at the sudden shout.

Crimson eyes hardened and fingers tightened on the phone. "...I will be there immediately. Just do what you can."

"What's wrong, Yami?" Katsuya felt a little apprehensive at the way Yami violently shut the phone.

Fury was present on every inch of Yami's face.

"Yugi's grandfather is at the hospital."

* * *

 _ **A desperate attempt**_

* * *

 _~Domino Hospital~_

Footsteps rushed forward. Yami frantically tried to find the person he was looking for, with Katsuya and Seto following behind. He then spotting the one he was looking for at the end of the hallway, curling up into a ball at a bench with two other people trying to comfort him.

"Yugi!"

The mentioned person snapped his head up. Upon seeing one of his lovers, tears welled up and flowed down his cheeks. "Yami..." He shakily stretched out a hand towards Yami, who immediately rushed forward and took the hand, pressing a comforting kiss on it. Once Yami had settled beside him, Yugi uncurled from his position and wrapped his arms around Yami's neck, sobbing softly into his neck.

"Hush, Aibo." Yami brought Yugi closer, whispering into his ear. "I'm here."

Another heart-wrenching sob only caused Yami to tighten his grip on his younger lover.

"Thank goodness you are here, Yami-kun." Yugi's mother sighed in relief, weariness evident by the lines on her forehead. "Yugi would not talk to us no matter what we did."

Yami looked at the mother, still holding Yugi close. "What happened, Nanako-san? Atem called me and only told me the basic details of grandpa Sugoroku landing at the hospital and that Yugi was not talking."

"I'm...not sure myself." Nanako glanced at the doors that had a 'In Operation' sign, which was lit up, at the top. "I came home from shopping and saw..." She hesitantly looked at the side.

Timaeus met the suspicious stares calmly.

"...Timaeus." Yami tilted his head forward slowly in greeting, eyes slightly wary.

"Mr. Inishie." Timaeus returned the greeting. "Chairman Kaiba and...?" He blinked curiously at the third unknown person.

But before Katsuya could answer, Seto went straight to the point.

"What did you do?"

Timaeus blinked in surprise this time. "I beg your pardon?"

"You caused this." Seto narrowed his eyes. "You are the reason why Yugi's grandfather was in the hospital, aren't you? I have no idea what you and your little cronies are planning, but you better stay far away and-"

"No!"

Everyone turned to see athemyst eyes sending a pleading look at Seto.

"It's not...He...Timaeus-san was...helped us...not him...I...no..." The sobs in between the words made it hard to understand what Yugi was trying to say.

"Please calm down, Aibo." Yami shushed Yugi with a soft caress on the cheek. "Take a deep breath."

Yugi tried to follow the direction and ended up giving a hiccup. He buried his face back into Yami's neck, too upset and too embarrassed at the way he was acting. He tried one more time to get his message across, not wanting Timaeus to be blamed for something he did not do. "T-Timaeus-san helped us..."

The older lover stroked the younger's back soothingly. "I see." Yami took Yugi's words as it was and looked at Timaeus, giving a short nod. "Thank you for helping."

"It was of no problem." Timaeus shook his head. "Although, it was partly my fault as well. If only I made him leave sooner, then..."

"Him? There was another person?" Yami frowned. "Will you tell us what happened?"

Aqua eyes hardened, then it fleeted shortly to the man within Yami's arms and back to crimson eyes again.

Understanding what Timaeus wanted, Yami started pulling away from Yugi while standing up. "Nanako-san, do you mind waiting here with Yugi? I am going to have a talk with Timae-" The tightening grip on his neck forced him to stop talking and moving. He looked down at the one in his arms, "Aibo...?"

Desperate eyes looked back at him. "D-Don't leave...! Please...!"

Dread filled up within Yami at the strangely familiar sight. He quickly sat back and held Yugi's cheeks with both hands. "What is wrong, Yugi? Talk to me."

Nanako had a hand over her mouth. Seto's frown deepened. Katsuya was looking at the youngest male in worry, while Timaeus tightened his jaws.

"I..." Yugi's lips trembled. He pulled away and covered his face with his hands, frustratingly trying to stop his hysterical state. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry...! I don't why...I'm sorry! I-" He was cut off when a forehead leaned on his. His hands fell away and he was met with Yami's face close to his, eyes closed. In reflex, his eyes did the same, tears falling down as he did.

Yami started singing in a language that none of the other present people were able to decipher. The song was sung softly with Yami swaying the both of them slightly with each word uttered.

واقـــف حبــيــبي مــــن الخـــجــل ع حفّـــة البســـمــه

(My darling is so shy, he stands on the edge of smiling)

كــــل مــا اجى يــحــكي غـــزل بيــضايــع الكـــلمــه

(As soon as he wants to flirt with me, he forgets his words(run out of words))

واقـــف حبــيــبي مــــن الخـــجــل ع حفّـــة البســـمــه

(My darling is so shy, he stands on the edge of smiling)

كــــل مــا اجى يــحــكي غـــزل بيــضايــع الكـــلمــه

(As soon as he wants to flirt with me, he forgets his words(run out of words))

وبيــــــــستــــحــــي بعــــرف حبـــيــبي بيســـتحــي

(He's shy, I know my darling is shy)

وبعـــز لحظـــات الهـــــوى كـــل شــــي ع بـــالــو بيـــنــميحي

(And in the strongest moments of love, his mind goes blank)

وبيــــــــستــــحــــي بعــــرف حبـــيــبي بيســـتحــي

(He's shy, I know my darling is shy)

يـــــا ريـــت لــو بطـــفي القمـــر ت يـــحكــي ع العتــمي

(I wish if I could turn off the moon, to make him speak in the dark)

It was clear to everyone present that the song was calming Yugi down. The hiccups slowed to a stop, tensed shoulders becoming relaxed, and the expression that was once painful turned into a peaceful one. When the song ended, both Yami and Yugi had a small smile on. They opened their eyes at the same time. Yami let out a chuckle while Yugi looked down, but there was a hint of happiness in his eyes.

"Sorry to interrupt the moment," Katsuya scratched his cheek with a finger. "But this is just...too romantic to stomach. What are you singing anyways?"

"It's an Egyptian love song." Yami had a rather sheepish look, still not breaking the forehead contact with his now shy lover. They had totally forgotten that there were other people around. "Atem always sang it to us back before we got together." The moment faded as Yami returned to the situation at hand. "Aibo, I will just be down the corridor, it will only take a while as I try to find out who made you this way." His eyes hardened, "I will make them regret it."

Yugi's mouth moved. But when no sound came out, a small nod was given instead.

The crimson-eyed man frowned. He turned to Nanako and Katsuya, "Sorry for the bother, but, Nanako-san and Jounouchi-kun, could you two stay with Yugi?"

Nanako smiled and sat beside Yugi, clasping one of his hands in hers. Katsuya gave a thumbs up. "Go ahead."

Yami nodded and turned back to Yugi, pressing a kiss on his forehead. "I will be right back."

With that, Yami stood up and turned to Timaeus, who had a mixture of an amused and awed look. A hand motioned that the talk be taken elsewhere, to which the aqua-eyed man complied, with Seto following to ensure there would not be any funny business.

* * *

 _ **A desperate attempt**_

* * *

Teeth gritted against each other in agitation. Maroon eyes swiveled around the place, trying to find a way out. Atem cursed under his breath in Arabic.

"Language, pharaoh." Mahado said distractedly, eyes doing the exact same thing.

"It's no good, the exit is blocked by those reporters." Mana worried her bottom lip. "How do we leave the building?"

"If this goes on any longer, I am busting my way out of here regardless of whether they spot me or not." Atem's eyes flashed dangerously before taking an anxiety glint. "Yugi needs me."

"We will make sure to get you to him, pharaoh." Mahado assured. A surprised sound came out next, followed by a distress groan. "No wonder the reporters are all here."

Atem and Mana turned to see what had caught Mahado's attention. Mana puffed up her cheeks in annoyance as Atem thinned his lips.

Anzu was just walking out of the elevator, a pair of sunglasses covering her eyes. Within moments, reporters surrounded her.

"Now's our chance!" Mana hurriedly and carefully went around the crowd with Mahado on her tails.

Atem paused just long enough to see Anzu biting her lips in nervousness, before he shut his eyes, moving to follow his employees.

* * *

 _ **A desperate attempt**_

* * *

The flashing of the camera lights were so blinding that Anzu had to squint her eyes despite the sunglasses she was wearing. The reporters were asking her tons of questions, but all the words were like a blur to her ears as she tried to get away from the crowd with the help of Aileen and some guards. With each question, her heart grew heavier and heavier.

"Mazaki-san, your fiancé-"

 _This is..._

"Mazaki-san, the engagement-"

 _A chance for me to..._

"Mazaki-san, when will the wedding-"

... _Have him by my side._

"Mazaki-san, what are you going to do about the third party-"

 _Right?_

"Mazaki-san, will you tell us the name of your fiancé?"

Anzu jerked to a stop, ignoring the tightening grip on her arm from Aileen. She turned to reporter asking that question.

"Anzu...!" Aileen hissed into her ear.

However, Anzu did not seemed to hear it. "His name..."

The reporters leaned in, their recorders and notepads in position.

"His name," Anzu took a deep breath and opened her mouth. "Is-"

Her eyes widened.

Through the transparent glass doors across of her and behind all those reporters, stood a lady in cream colored sleeveless one-piece dress and a matching waist length veil that spreads below her shoulders. Shocked blue eyes met with calm blue ones. The lady blinked once and tilted her head. Then, she gave a small tap on her necklace, which had an eye in the middle, and walked off with a slight shake of the head.

Some of the reporters noticed Anzu's weird reaction and turned around. "No way! It's Mysterious Isis!" With that, the attention was immediately off Anzu and all the reporters frantically got out of the building and tried to run after Isis, who was rounding up a corner. One of the reporters rushed up the corner and gasped. "She's gone!"

During the chaos, Aileen quickly pulled Anzu. "Let's go while they are distracted."

The celebrity let herself be dragged, the action that Isis gave burned deeply into her mind.

 _What was she trying to say...?_

* * *

 _ **A desperate attempt**_

* * *

"What happened at the store?" Yami went straight to the point once they were far enough, yet still within sight, from the Nanako, Katsuya and Yugi. "It must be bad if Aibo did not raise any objection when I said I would make the person responsible regret it."

Timaeus glanced at the trio ahead and back to Yami. He breathed through his nose deeply and began telling the two bosses about what went down at Kame game shop. He noted the reactions, Yami having his eyes darkened and Seto's mouth curling distastefully, when he mentioned about what the man had said to Yugi.

"...And the ambulance brought us here." Timaeus ended with a soft sigh. "Both Mrs. Muto and I then spend the waiting time trying to get Yugi, who retreated to himself the moment we arrived, to speak to us."

"Kame game shop has a security camera, right?" Seto did not wait for a response and whipped up his phone, making a call.

Timaeus watched Seto conversed with the phone for a while before directing his attention to the other man.

Yami had a heartbroken look on while looking at Yugi's direction. He immediately washed that expression off and put on an assuring smile when he caught Yugi's eyes.

"...Nothing of that sort happened, right?"

The co-boss broke eye contact with his lover to look at Timaeus.

Timaeus shifted hesitantly. "Mr. Muto...was rather angry about what that man had said regarding about..." He trailed off, knowing he was stepping on a sensitive subject. "...Yugi was not re-"

"Thank you for your help, Timaeus." Crimson eyes stared directly into aqua ones. "If it was not for you, things could have been worse. I truly thank you."

The teal-black haired man paused. He breathed in and tilted his head forward. "...Not at all." After a few seconds of silence, Timaeus straightened his posture. "There seems to be nothing else for me stay for. I will take my leave." He then slowly lifted a hand up.

Yami did the same with his own hand. "Thank you once again."

Their hands clasped together, giving a firm handshake.

Yami tilted his head while Timaeus blinked.

They let go of each other's hand. Timaeus gave a final nod and turned around to leave. The co-boss watched the man's leaving figure, stuffing his hand into his pocket as he contemplated about that man.

"What was that all about?"

Yami turned to see Seto furrowing his eyebrows at him. He gave a blank stare, "...Who knows." The co-boss smiled in relief when Atem appeared, rushing frantically to Yugi and looked around for his other lover, only to relax when his eyes caught Yami at a distance away before going back to comfort his younger lover. "I am going downstairs for a moment."

He left before Seto could even reply.

* * *

 _ **A desperate attempt**_

* * *

"You need to be really careful when going out now." Aileen was warning Anzu as they walked around cautiously. "Be careful not to stray too far."

The dancer was only half-listening, mind still occupied with the thoughts of the woman she saw back then. She sighed, shaking her head. It was probably nothing much regarding the action Isis performed. Still, it kind of bothered her...

"Come on." Aileen moved forward.

Anzu followed.

However, a chiming sound caused her to stop. Curious, Anzu started looking around, searching for the cause of the noise.

She gasped.

There stood the lady once again, just across the street from her. This time, the lady stared at her for a few moments, looking away to look at something and back to her eyes again. She then broke the eye contact and started walking towards the direction she was looking at earlier.

Anzu diverted her eyes between Aileen and Isis. Mouthing an apology towards Aileen, she quickly moved to follow Isis the moment Aileen was distracted.

* * *

 _ **A desperate attempt**_

* * *

A pair of feet wearing high heels frantically tried to catch up to another feet wearing sandals.

Anzu made sure to keep Isis within her sights at all times, knowing that the lady she was chasing after had a habit of disappearing the moment eyes were off her. The chase was...weird. Even though she was running, it was like there was a force keeping her from reaching Isis, who was merely walking at an even pace.

 _Just where is she heading?_

Just then, Isis glanced behind to look at her and turned around a corner.

 _No! She is going to disappear!_

Anzu forced herself to move faster and swiveled her whole body over the corner. It was only a difference of a few seconds that Isis was out of her sight and yet...

Blue eyes searched the area in despair.

Isis was nowhere to be seen.

Dejectedly, Anzu continued on, hoping against hope that Isis was still around. Ahead, stood a building. She stopped just outside the building and read the plate at the gate.

 _Domino Hospital._

She sighed and walked in, taking the path to the gardens where she could see some of the patients walking about. Making sure that her sunglasses and hat were appropriate placed, she walked to an area where there were less people around. That entire running around had her worn out, she might as well rest while she was here.

 _That tree over there looks like a good spot to rest..._

She headed to the mentioned tree, walking around it to sit on the bench that was behind it. She closed her eyes wearily and sat heavily on the left side of bench. A noise beside her caused her to snap her eyes opened again and jerked her head to where the sound was.

Surprised crimson eyes met Anzu's eyes.

* * *

 _ **A desperate attempt**_

* * *

Both Yami and Anzu stared at each other for a while, before Anzu snapped out of it and stood up, bowing hysterically.

"I-I'm sorry! I didn't know there was someone here!"

Yami raised a hand up. "It's fine..." He sat straight up and scrutinized the woman. "Mazaki...Anzu?" The close distance between them was enough to render the sunglasses and hat useless.

The dancer flinched. She awkwardly smiled, hoping that she did not meet a fan that would be crazy enough to-

She blinked, taking another look at the man. A memory flashed through her mind.

 **"Here." Atem handed her a picture. "These are my two loves."**

 **Anzu took the photo. It contained three people in it, with Atem wrapping an arm around each of the other two's waists in the middle. There was a serious-looking man wearing a suit on the left and a man, the shortest out of three, with big round eyes on the right.**

 **"Yugi's the one with jewel-like eyes. His eyes really are one of a kind." Atem pointed to the shortest man and moved his finger to the other man. "And this stern man, actually a big softie inside, with devilish eyes is-"**

"Yami..."

 _This is one of Atem's..._

Yami tilted his head at hearing his name coming from the dancer. He nodded in acknowledgment. Patting the bench twice, he invited Anzu sit down. After which, the both of them sat in silence, not knowing what to say.

"So,"

Anzu lifted her head to look at Yami.

"What's a celebrity doing here, if I may ask?" Crimson eyes shifted to her curiously.

"I..." Anzu shifted uncomfortably. "...What about you?"

Yami stared at her and then averted his eyes to the front. "Yugi's grandfather was admitted to the hospital due to an encounter with...an unreasonable fan."

Anzu hitched her breath. Guilt settled deep within her heart. It was because of her that- "Then, why are you outside?" She blurted out her next question, not wishing to dwell in those miserable feelings.

Yami raised a hand, showing Anzu that he had a paper on it. "...I was reading something. I was just about to head back in before you came." He flicked the paper one more time before shoving it into his pocket.

Another long silence came.

"Why did you do it?"

Anzu looked at Yami, who did not moved his gaze away from the front. Manicured hands clutched tightly on the skirt.

"You would stand to lose more if you continue on." Yami focused his attention on a pair of birds pecking the ground. "Judging from your silent response, you know it. And yet, you still chose to-"

"This is my chance to have him by my side, I don't care even if he hates me!" Words spewed out before Anzu could even stop them.

The birds flew away at the loud shout, leaving a few feathers at their wake. Anzu clasped a hand to her mouth, horrified that she had blurted out her feelings out like that. What was going to happen now? Anzu recalled Atem telling her that Yami was part of the Kaiba family, and they could do anything to anyone without batting an eye. Was she going to be in danger? What will happen-

A chuckle stopped those train of thoughts.

Anzu turned her head to the person next to her, only to find Yami covering his mouth in mirth. She watched confusingly as Yami regained his composure and directed a soft smile at her.

"You are quite similar to Atem."

The celebrity blinked.

Yami flicked a finger at one of his blond bangs. "I have no idea what Atem had told you, but," He then started twirling a finger around two of his bangs. "Things were not always perfect for the three of us. We had to maintain the three way relationship, had to deal with how other people see us. And even before that, we struggled a lot just to get together. There was Yugi's insecurities, there was Atem dealing with rivals in his career that sometimes affects us...and there was me, who really, really disliked Atem a long time ago."

Blue eyes widened at the revelation.

"Yes. I dislike him before we got together." Yami had closed his eyes in remembrance. "Because he was trying to steal something important from me."

"Something...important?"

"Yugi." He admitted with an amused snort. "Yugi and I are childhood friends, and I started developing feelings for him during middle school, maybe even before that. But, I never dared to take the relationship further for fear of breaking our current one. So I simply watched him from afar, yearning for him, for his smile, for his laugh, for his touch."

Anzu shifted uncomfortably at the raw emotion visible in Yami's voice. It was really obvious to Anzu that Yami had loved Yugi for a very long time.

"Then, during high school, came a boy whom threatened to take those away from me." Yami shook his head. "Atem was daring in his approach, he made sure that his every action spoke of his interest in Yugi. It almost made me hate him for it." He added with an amused huff. "But of course, Yugi, being Yugi, did not even catch a single hint Atem was giving. It was up to a point that Atem became frustrated and resorted to...less than appropriate methods."

Anzu leaned in, curious as to what Atem had done.

"At that time, Yugi always stuck close to me. No matter where he goes, I follow and vice versa." Yami paused, eyes slowly opening. "Atem felt it was a barrier he had to break down."

The dancer covered her mouth in realization.

Crimson eyes shifted towards the celebrity. "He did something similar to what you are doing now." He confirmed Anzu's suspicions. "It was really bad...Yugi and I almost drifted apart due to his actions."

Yami gave another long pause to allow the information to sink in. "There's that." He stood up from the bench. "It was nice meeting you, Mazaki-san." He walked on, heading back inside the building.

"Wait!"

Yami stopped walking, but did not turn around.

"What..." Anzu desperately clenched her hands. "What happened then? What did Atem do next?"

Anzu saw Yami tilted his head, and glanced back at her. A smirk greeted her.

"We are together and are very in love with each other. That should be enough to tell you what had happened and what Atem had done at the end."

He left, leaving Anzu to stare at his leaving figure.

She clasped her fingers together, biting her lip. A flash of Atem smiling at her appeared in her mind. She tightened her fingers, trying to stop the trembles that came with it.

At a far corner, the Mysterious Isis could be seen observing the scene. The lady curled the corner of her lips up and left the place with a soft chiming sound.

* * *

 _ **A desperate attempt**_

* * *

Everything was blurred as a pair of eyes slowly fluttered open. The first person within sight was Yugi, holding desperately onto a wrinkled hand.

"Y-Yugi...?"

Yugi snapped his head up, seeing his grandfather's eyes had opened. "Grandpa...! I'm so glad...!" He dropped the hand and hugged the still half-asleep old man on the bed.

"Thank goodness..."

Sugoroku looked around and saw Nanako at his other side, smiling in relief at him. At the foot of the bed, stood Katsuya, who grinned, and Seto, who gave a nod.

"You had us all worried, grandpa Sugoroku." Atem and Yami came from behind Yugi, who just released his grandfather, looking pleased as well.

"W-What happened?"

"What happened, Muto-san," A doctor, who was also in the room, tapped his clipboard with a pen. "Is that you are on bed rest for a whole week. Do not allow him to do anything strenuous and no more excitements." He directed his instructions to the others.

"Thank you so much, doctor." Nanako nodded in thanks.

"Not even carrying supplies?" Sugoroku tried to bargain, knowing that Yugi would not allow him to do anything with that kind of instructions.

"Not even that." The doctor smiled sympathetically.

The groan that came had everyone laughing or shaking their heads.

* * *

 _ **A desperate attempt**_

* * *

 _~A few days later~_

The ringing of the doorbell had Atem walking to the door. "Coming!"

The door opened to reveal Anzu. She had a small bag, which was presented to Atem with a smile.

"You need not give us anything, just bringing yourself would be enough." Atem let her in the house and took the gift humbly. "Come on, lunch is just about done."

" _Is she here, Atem_?" Yugi's voice sounded out from the kitchen.

"Yes, little one." Atem ushered his guest to the living room. "Do you need help?"

" _No, I will be f-_ " Something heavy could be heard dropping on the ground. " _Oh no..._ "

Atem raised an eyebrow and turned to his guest. "Excuse me while I check on my little one."

The dancer giggled. "Go on."

Once Atem had left the room, Anzu took the moment to look around. Her eyes caught a newspaper that was on the table. Blue eyes softened as she took the newspaper. The headline read 'DANCING A DIFFERENT TUNE?'.

"You are really like Atem."

Anzu turned to see Yami standing next to the couch she was sitting on. She tilted her head, "In what way?"

"In how the both of you handled the situation." Yami pointed to the newspaper with a smirk. "You told the reporters: 'Yes, we are engaged...professionally. Surely there was nothing wrong with that? I apologize to everyone whom had interpreted it the wrong way.' And you went on to talk about how hurt you were when the false information came out, and that your friend was hurt from it. You and Atem are really similar that way."

She smiled, "I assumed that Atem did something similar back then?"

Upon receiving a chuckle, Anzu cracked a smile as well. Hearing the sounds of Atem playfully scolding Yugi from the kitchen, she sighed. But the smile on her lips never wavered.

 _It still hurts...but it's fine. Even if I do everything and anything to have him by my side, it's not worth it if I can't see his smile..._

" _Lunch is ready!_ " Yugi called out to them.

Yami gestured Anzu to go ahead first. Hearing the happy sounds from the three of them in the kitchen, Yami relaxed and blew out a sigh.

Anzu had suddenly changed her mind and told the truth regarding Atem kissing Anzu's hand to the reporters. Although the reporters were skeptical about it, Anzu was able to put a stop to the situation with Atem's and Yami's help, it also helped a lot since the previous newspaper about them were false. The drawback was that the trio's relationship were made public, with Atem and Yami's name being unknown. Sometimes, there would be a few harassments at the Kame game shop, but with Seto's help, it eventually dwindled. Another drawback was that Anzu might stand to lose a few fans, for some might see her as a liar, but Anzu said it was fine, saying that she deserved it. Feeling sympathetic towards her, Yugi immediately invited her over for lunch, to which the dancer accepted with tears of relief and joy. Yami heard that she had apologized deeply to Yugi over the phone. The man causing the disturbance at the game shop was found and dealt with accordingly. Sugoroku was recovering nicely as well, despite his constant complains.

Everything was back to normal.

Yami narrowed his eyes.

"There's only one thing left to do."

* * *

 _ **A desperate attempt**_

* * *

"Damn it! It wasn't supposed to be this way!" IQ stomped his foot. "I will find another way!"

"L-Look." The fake publisher scratched his cheek. "I think we did enough already. Let's just forget about the money and lay low for now. I think they are searching for us-"

IQ slapped the other man on the head. "Don't be stupid. It's not like they could find u-"

The door was burst opened, earning screams from the two criminals.

"W-Who's there!" IQ raised his fists pathetically in an attempt to defend himself. The publisher did the same.

"...Found you." A pair of leather shoes stepped into the room.

The two criminals gasped in horror, each pointing a finger at the person. "H-How did you find us?!"

"It was rather hard to find the both of you, since you are using alias." Yami walked further into the room. "I see that you have not changed your ways, Haga," He narrowed his eyes at IQ and turned to the accomplice. "And Ryuzaki. Did the two of you not learn from last time?"

"Shut up!" Haga snarled. "Our lives has been hell ever since then. It's all because of the three of you!"

"You only have yourselves to blame," Yami countered. "If you simply handled your lost against Yugi in a more admirable way, you would not have to come to this state."

"You-"

"You started threatening Yugi after you lost a duel with him in a Duel Monsters tournament. You wanted him to proclaim that he cheated during the duel when he did not such thing." Mouth curled up distastefully. "When that did not work, you resorted to scare tactics and even stalking habits. Atem and I did what we had to protect our love." He turned to Ryuzaki. "I actually expected better from you, yet you chose to follow a foolish man down a foolish road."

Ryuzaki gritted his teeth.

"It's clear that you just won't let this go." Yami stepped aside to let some people with blue uniform in. "I shall stop this once and for all."

"Are they the ones, Inishie-sama?" One of the men asked.

With a nod from Yami, the man stood forward. "Insector Haga and Dinosaur Ryuzaki, the both of you are under arrest for kidnapping, identity theft, as well as invasion of privacy. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in court of law. You have the right to an attorney, if you can't afford an attorney, one will not be appointed to you." The man handcuffed the both of them.

"You have no prove that we did it!" Haga screeched, making his partner in crime nudged him for trying to make things worse.

"Unfortunately for you," Yami held the device Katsuya had given to him with two fingers. "You left something behind."

"We will take things from here, Yami." A man wearing a long brown coat saluted as his fellow colleagues dragged the despondent Haga and Ryuzaki away.

"Thank you, Detective Honda." Yami shook hands with him briefly.

"If you don't mind me asking," Honda Hiroto tilted his head curiously. "How did you know it was them? You told me their names straight out when you want to find out about who did the reporting. And how did you know that they were in this area?"

"I was not entirely sure at first. However, IQ," Yami folded his arms. "Stands for Insect Queen. It's Haga's calling card in Duel Monsters. He once gloated to me that it also stands for his Intelligence quotient and it was a prefect fit. He's actually the former 'King of Duelist' and Ryuzaki was the runner up, so it was a big blow on them when Yugi easily defeated them. As for how I knew..."

Yami toyed with the paper, the same one he had shown Anzu, in his pocket.

"A little...knight informed me about it."

* * *

 _ **A desperate attempt**_

* * *

"Pity." A man sat on a throne-like chair. "Let's just move on to another plan then. Timaeus?"

Said man stepped forward and kneeled down on one knee.

"You have done your part, have you not?"

"Yes." Timaeus lowered his head. "From this incident, they trust me to a certain extend due to my help. It won't be long before they consider me a close friend."

"Good, good." The man smiled. "I'm counting on you."

Timaeus nodded. He stood up, gave another bow and left the room.

"Soon," The man whispered. "Just wait for a while longer, my love."

 _~With Timaeus~_

Timaeus quietly walked down the hallway. He did not even stop when he passed by Critias and Hermos, whom were waiting for him at the end of the hallway, and pushed the doors open.

"...Timaeus?"

Aqua eyes fell upon the same girl that was seen with Critias and Hermos. After a moment of silence, Timaeus merely smiled at the girl.

"...It will be over soon. Please just wait for a while longer."

Critias looked away while Hermos clenched his fists.

"Just a while longer."

* * *

 _ **A desperate attempt**_

* * *

 _~Somewhere in a cold, dark, place~_

A nail was slowly dragged down against a wall, leaving a long white line.

As the person sat back, it could be seen that there were similar markings everywhere on the wall, obviously indicating the number of days.

A low husky chuckle came.

"Just a while longer..."

~To Be Continued~

* * *

 _I'm finally done with this chapter! This is the longest chapter I have ever written! Gods! Did you expect the IQ and the publisher to be Haga and Ryuzaki? There was a hint of Ryuzaki in the previous chapter if you can catch that._

 _Things are getting real serious now…_

 _Things to note:_

 _Yugi's mother, Nanako – 'Nana' means seven and 'ko' means child, but could also means daughterly devotion. (I thought it fitting as Sugoroku had a six in his name)_

 _The song Yami sung - The love song was not part of the plot originally *grins sheepishly* and it was originally not this song (W Byestehi by Elissa), it was another song but I could not find the lyrics and have no idea who was it sang by. I will place a link here if you wish to hear the originally planned song: www. youtube watch?v=nTna8t-4M3k (Just remove the space ^^) One thing you should know is that, Arabic text is read from right to left, not left to right_

 _Miranda rights – The part where the police recite the rights for Haga and Ryuzaki. Unlike the United States, Japan does not have public defenders in their legal system, so no lawyer will be given to them if they can't afford one_

 _Haga and Ryuzaki – They used to be famous, being the former 'King of Duelist' and runner up. But due to their actions towards Yugi, they were jailed for a certain amount of time and were shunned by the public because of Atem and Yami.(Thus the revenge)_

 ** _Omake:_**

 ** _~On the way to Domino Hospital~_**

 **" _Why on earth do I have to give you a ride too?"_**

 **" _You have a problem with that?!" Katsuya shook his fist at Seto._**

 ** _Seto folded his arms. "If I don't have a problem with it, I certainly won't say anything, mediocre fool."_**

 **" _High and almighty rich bast-"_**

 **" _That's quite a complement. Your owner has raised you well, that's for sure."_**

 **" _You-!" Katsuya turned to Yami, who was following their conversation with a huge sweatdrop. "That's why I don't like rich people! They are all too cocky!"_**

 ** _The sweatdrop grew in numbers. "I am in the same category that you just spoke of, Jounouchi-kun…"_**

 **" _Ark!" Katsuya flinched. He grinned sheepishly at the smiling-awkwardly Yami. "W-Well, except for you that is, Yami. You are one of the exceptions." A snort caused a glare to surface on Katsuya's face. "Don't get too envious seeing as you are not one of them."_**

 ** _That only made Seto snort again. He made a passing glance at Katsuya and looked at his cousin. "There is someone who is even more arrogant than they depicted to be if the situation calls for it."_**

 ** _Yami blinked at Seto boring his eyes into him._**

 **" _Yami?" Katsuya laughed in disbelief. "No way."_**

 ** _The mentioned cousin blinked once again. He moved his shoulders in a shrug-like manner and turned his attention to the window._**

 **" _You are just trying to escape the fact that you are cocky, Kaiba." Katsuya grinned confidently and pointed his finger at the boss._**

 **" _Kindly remove that offensive finger out of my sight."_**

 **" _Does everything have to be an insult from you?!"_**

 **" _Pipe your barkings down."_**

 **" _You-!"_**

 **" _The two of you argue like a married couple." Yami absently muttered while still watching the passing sceneries. He hummed indifferently even as two dark auras could be felt behind him. "Or maybe you already did married. I'm hurt, Kaiba, for not letting me know about the occasion."  
_**

 **" _Yami…"_**

 **" _Inishie Yami."_**

 **" _Or perhaps you are planning the wedding?_ _" Yami continued. He paused for a while and cocked his head. "_** ** _ ** _Walking down the aisle." Yami smiled discreetly. "..._** Seems interesting. I will make sure Atem brings his camera."_**

 ** _For the rest of the ride, Yami found that he could worry about his young love in peace._**

 **"… _I take my words back. Kaiba's right. You are definitely one of those jerks too, Yami."_**

 _Bwhahahahaha! For those who don't get it, Yami implied that either of them could be doing the walk down the aisle, which, as we know, is something that females do. He just totally crushed Katsuya's and Seto's pride as men. *Throws head back and laugh*_

 _That's all folks! Do leave a review behind for the humble old me!_


	8. Interlude (A missing scene)

_Marisay-chan here! Here's the scene of Yami and Yugi at the time to when they called Atem after the dinner with Anzu. Won't say much, just enjoy._

 _To_ _ **Lady Leaf8**_ _: Thank you so much! The omakes tend to get more attention then the story itself *laughs* And yes, that is exactly what I wish to portray, I'm glad that it was well-received!_

 _To_ _ **bookgirl111**_ _and 'Guest': A prequel? Hm. I will think about it._

 _To everyone else: Thank you so much for reviewing! I will continue to do my best!_

 _Disclaimer: I do not own the characters, only the story ^.^_

 _In Italics are thoughts_

 **In Bold are flashbacks**

 **WARNING: THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS SCENE NOT SUITABLE FOR AGES UNDER 18! DO NOT READ IF YOU ARE UNDER 18!**

 _~Scene Starts~_

* * *

"Home at last…" Yugi searched his pockets for his keys. Slotting the correct key to the keyhole, he twisted the key and opened the door. "I'm back."

Getting no response back, the young male blinked while toeing off his shoes.

"That's weird…Yami should be home."

Atem was probably on his way to the…date with Anzu. But the co-boss was always home before Yugi. Yami did not mention anything about being late as well.

"Yami?"

Yugi looked around the house. Peeking into the living room, he quickly turned towards the kitchen when he saw no one there. Stepping into the kitchen, Yugi spotted a cup with a Horus eye. It was Yami's cup, which meant that he was in the house.

 _I guess he's at the second floor then._

Athemyst eyes stared up at the stairs when its owner came near the steps.

Was it just him, or was it rather dark up there?

Swallowing slightly, Yugi cautiously walked up the stairs. The sound of his foot hitting the steps seemed to echo into his ears, intensifying the anxious feeling within him. There also was a strange vibe surrounding the air.

 _All right, Yugi. You are being paranoid. Yami's probably sleeping…nothing's going to jump up at me… I really need to stop watching horror movies…_

Reaching the second floor, Yugi took another look around. First, he checked Atem's office, then Yami's, followed by the guest room. Upon reaching the bedroom, Yugi gulped and placed his hand on the knob. Slowly opening it, the man peeked inside, opening wider when nothing happened.

"Yami-"

A yelp escaped when a hand shot out, pulled Yugi inside and shut the door. After which, Yugi found himself being turned around and pressed, rather gently, against the door, facing it. His hands were held behind his back by a hand. Yugi frantically tried to look behind to see who was doing this. Then, a mouth whispered into his ear,

"Welcome back, Aibo."

The moment the nickname was said, tension left Yugi in an instant, sagging with relief that it was not a burglar or anything else. "Yami…" The relief turned into annoyance. "Why did you do that for?! I thought there was a burglar in the house!"

"Apologies, Aibo. I did not mean to scare you." Yami softly pressed a kiss on Yugi's nape in an attempt to sooth the agitated man. "Your heart is beating really fast."

Blinking, Yugi realized that his heart was beating rather fast due to the terror he felt earlier. How Yami knew that was beyond him. Then again, Yami was holding onto his hands by the wrist, he could probably felt his pulse from there. Speaking of which…

"Um…Could you let go now, Yami?" Yugi wriggled his hands in an attempt to show Yami what he meant.

There was a short silence before Yami gave a soft hum.

The grip on Yugi's hands tightened.

Yugi squeaked, surprised at the unexpected action. A gasp came when he was further pushed against the door by another body.

Yami took his time to rearrange Yugi's body, making sure that his lower parts were firmly pressed with the other's. He whispered once again into Yugi's ear, "And if I said, no?"

"Y-Yami?" Yugi's face started turning red at the heat he could feel on his clothed backside.

"Naughty Aibo." Yami used his free hand to caress his lover's body, stroking suggestively at certain places, earning soft sounds. "Did I not tell you to return home early?"

"W-What…?!" Yugi bit his lip when the hand wondered dangerously close to one of his sensitive area. "You were being serious-?"

"Was I making a joke this morning?" Yami mouthed the ear, making Yugi shiver involuntarily. "…I am going to make you scream my name and only my name, tonight."

Yugi gave a sound between a moan and a hiccup at the promise.

"But first," Yami released Yugi's hands and wrapped his arms around Yugi, pulling the younger lover into his embrace. "I need to make sure you are thoroughly ravished." A hand fanned down Yugi's chest. "I need you to be completely pleasured." The hand went down to a quivering thigh.

"And most of all, I need you to only think about me and only me."

Yugi cried out as the hand teasingly stroke his inner thigh. "Yami…!"

"Yes…" Yami purred, not applying too much pressure, but at the same time making sure his hold was firm. "Call out to me, my beautiful Aibo." He nuzzled into Yugi's neck. "Let me show you a world full of pleasure."

Yugi could only moan and arched his back as Yami continued the sensual assault, never once making direct contact to Yugi's most sensitive area. The taller lover stroke the thighs, running his hands around the waist and hips, massaging the stomach lovingly, kissing the sweat-laced neck and whispered sweet nothings into a reddened ear. All the sensation was driving Yugi beyond insane, and they have not even taken off their clothes! Yugi involuntarily let out a keen when Yami started swaying the both of them, initiating a dance as he continued to pleasure the younger man.

Yugi lifted the back of hand to his mouth to muffle the moan that was coming out when Yami grinded his crotch area to Yugi's backside. If it was not for the fact that they were clothed, Yugi was sure that Yami would have slipped into him and-

A gasp escaped as Yugi suddenly found himself on his back on the bed. Looking up, Yugi stared widely as Yami slowly climbed on top of him. He gulped when hands moved to his wrists and pinned them beside his head. Struggling slightly to test his freedom, Yugi hesitantly looked into his boyfriend's eyes.

Crimson eyes calmly stared back.

The both of them continued staring, neither doing anything to break the silence. Just as Yugi could not stand the silence any longer, something changed in Yami's eyes. The older man slowly lifted up one of the wrists he held and pressed his lips on the palm, all while watching Yugi.

The younger male hitched his breath at the action. He whimpered as Yami continued to leave kisses, slowly making his way to the arms, shoulders and finally pressing it to the neck.

"Y-Yami, what are you-"

A cry interrupted Yugi. Breathing heavily, Yugi flushed at realizing he was the one who made that sound, for Yami had suddenly ground down on him. Yami lifted his head and merely hummed when shocked eyes stared at him. He then pressed a finger to Yugi's trembling lips, a mischievous smile appearing on his face.

"Moans and screams, Aibo. Moans and screams."

"B-But! Wait-Hn!" Yugi shut his eyes tightly when he was ground against one more time. "Yami, wait-!"

For once, Yami ignored what his Aibo was saying and continued to grind his hips down. Groaning softly at the pleasured sensation, Yami kept his eyes on his little lover. It was so lewd, watching that body writhed below him and hearing those erotic sounds coming from those beautiful lips. Yami made sure that Yugi knew this as well.

"Aibo…the sight of you right now arouses me so much." Yami smirked a little at the small squeak that came. "And we have not even taken off our clothes."

"Y-Yami, I- Nnh! Wait!"

"Not waiting."

Before he knew it, Yugi found himself naked underneath his lover, wrists held above his head by one hand and legs spread widely to accommodate the man on top of him.

Yugi hitched his breath, feeling strangely vulnerable as his boyfriend had yet to shed off his clothes. The sensation of those pants rubbing against his bare thighs were just-

The younger male bit his lips when Yami rocked his groin area against his spread legs. Shutting his eyes, Yugi tried moving his legs to close them. But it was useless since Yami would not allow it, and chose to use his free hand to grip one of the legs and pushed it towards Yugi. Yugi yelped as he was further exposed to the other.

Yami only hummed at the soft protests coming from the man. Instead, he took his time savoring the sight. Watching those shy eyes averting away from him, mouth letting out breathless words, sweat gathering on the forehead, body trembling, and of course…

Yami licked his lips.

The most important part: the entrance to his lover's body. It was currently winking at him, tempting him, seducing him, telling him to just take it, filled it up with a certain white liquid. He wanted to feel those tight walls surrounding him, wanted to feel the friction as he thrust, and when he was done, he would make sure that Yugi would feel it too by asking him to-

Yugi widened his eyes when Yami suddenly let out a soft growl.

"Yami…?"

Crimson eyes shifted to athemyst ones in attention.

"U-Um…could you…at least, well…draw the curtains?"

Blinking, Yami turned to the windows where moonlight was filtering in. The bedroom was high enough to avoid any neighbors from looking in, so all could be seen was the night sky. After contemplating for a while, to which Yugi breathed a sigh of relief, sitting up slightly as Yami left the bed to do that.

Or so he thought.

Confusion surfaced as he saw Yami pulling the blanket and a few pillows along, placing them right in front of the windows, directly upon the spot where the moonlight shone.

Realization sunk when Yami turned back to him, licking his lips. Attempting to escape, which was foiled, Yugi whimpered as Yami laid him down on the blanket, placing a tender kiss on his forehead as he did so.

"Yami…! Not here!" Yugi struggled against his much stronger boyfriend, to no avail. "Someone-Someone might see!"

"Someone will definitely see this, witness this." Yami agreed, putting a stop to Yugi's struggles by pinning his wrists to the blanket and placing his whole body weight on the younger male.

"Then-"

"Someone," Yami interrupted, leaning his forehead against Yugi's. "I would not mind watching this." He gave a slight smirk, slowly leaning back. "Since they will help in highlighting the beauty that you like to hide."

Yugi made a soft embarrassed sound as Yami moved further back, letting the moonlight land on his slightly sweaty body.

"Look at how it shines on you." Yami purred. He slowly moved a hand and placed it on the waist. "I could see very well the curves of your body, the slightest twitch you make, and how it makes your body glisten." The hand slid up to just under a nipple, causing a soft gasp. "Yes, this is the best place for the moon to appreciate how two lovers get intimate with each other."

Yami leaned down and gently licked the nipple.

Yugi gasped, his whole body twitched, hands quickly digging into the blankets and throwing his head back to the pillow. Yugi trembled as Yami continued those kittenish licks on the same spot, he could feel the heat that was rising within his body. He shakily moved one of his hands over his mouth, trying to curb those lewd and embarrassing sounds he was making.

The moment his voice was muffled, Yami stopped and looked up. He stared at the flushed face of his lover, waiting for the attention. Once he got it, Yami held his lover's eyes and slowly dragged his tongue on the nipple, flicking it at the end.

"AH!" The shock of it caused the sound to slip through Yugi's hand. Yugi blushed harder and quickly pressed his index finger to his mouth to ensure no more sound would slip through.

Yami clicked his tongue softly, not liking that action, but leave it be as he wanted his Aibo to be the one willing to fill the room with that beautiful voice of his. Guess it just meant that he would have to do more so that his Aibo would let loose.

Which he would gladly do it with pleasure.

Thus, began the sensual assault on the younger male's body. He teased, stroke, licked, and kissed every part of that trembling body. On some parts, he left kiss marks, on others; he simply nuzzled and moved on.

Yugi had his eyes shut tightly. Although he could muffle his voice, it was still too loud for his liking as he could still hear the moans he was giving at the back of his throat. Turning his head sharply to the side, Yugi muted his voice completely, with only his erratic breathing and twitching body to show he was affected by the assault.

That only challenged Yami even further. He abandoned his teasing moves and moved down straight to the most sensitive spot on his lover. By the time Yugi realized, it was too late.

Yami licked right at the slit of his Aibo's member.

A shaky scream escaped.

Taking the chance, Yami licked at that spot, getting harder and harder with each lick, eyes on Yugi the whole time.

Unable to take it and needed something to ground him down, Yugi moved his hand away from his mouth and clutched it hard on the blankets, letting his voice out and loud for his boyfriend to hear. His legs involuntarily spread wider, to which Yami hummed in pleasure, his back arching up at each lick.

It was too much.

"Y-Yami…! Ah!" Yugi could feel something warm swirling within him. "I-Nh! I-I can't-Ngh!" His toes were curling up. "N-No more! Please! Nah! Nngh! Ya-"

Yugi gave a shocked shout when he felt himself being engulfed by wet heat. His whole body spasm shortly before he made a weak scream, eyes shutting, hips jerking non-stop within Yami's hold.

Slowly, he came to a stop, breathing harshly. He weakly uncurled his hands from the blankets, head rolling to one side lazily, his chest moving up and down to his breathing, thighs still shaking slightly.

The older male slowly lifted his head up, letting the organ out of his mouth with a soft 'pop'. A single white strand could be seen connected as Yami moved away before it snapped at the tension. Yami licked his lips slowly, closing his eyes to savor the taste of his love. He made a show of swallowing down whatever that was in his mouth and gazed on his Aibo once again. The sight of his Aibo basking in his afterglow was more than he could take. He wanted more.

Hearing shuffling sounds, Yugi weakly looked up, just in time to see Yami removing his tank top and tossing it aside carelessly. Yami climbed on top of Yugi once again, leaning down to give a loving kiss, purring when it was reciprocated feebly.

"I want more, Aibo."

Squeaking slightly, Yugi could do nothing but let Yami do as he wished. He allowed his love to worship his body, getting him to an aroused state and releasing him, before doing it all over again.

Upon releasing for what seemed like the umpteenth time, Yugi whined as Yami continued a series of touches to stimulate him again. Feeling a shaky hand upon his, Yami paused, panting at the heat within him, since he had not released himself.

Teary athemyst eyes pleaded him.

"Please…No more…"

Yami huffed, those words sending shivers straight to his groin. Oh, how he loved to pleasure his love like this. Sending pleasure upon pleasure to that soft, lewd body until his love could just take it no more. However-

It was unfortunate, for his Aibo, that he had no intention of stopping.

Yami felt something driving him, driving him to take things further, even more than what they have done before.

The younger boyfriend wailed in defeat, for Yami had ignored his request and lifted one of his legs high up, and gasped at something wet at his entrance.

"Ya-Yami…!"

That something went in smoothly, moving in and out at a slow pace.

Yugi choked out a moan at the finger sliding into him. His body was too relaxed to even tense up at the wet intruder. His face burned up, knowing that Yami had used his release to lube his finger, as he had no time to get lubricant. That fact, along with the finger going as deep as it could, caused a erotic mewl to escape from Yugi's mouth.

It was so…so-

"Naughty," Yami sang playfully, sliding his finger out and going back in, this time with two fingers. "Naughty little Aibo. Seducing me with that lewd body, giving me such a lovely sound and you want me to stop?"

Yugi clenched his teeth together, his voice going higher as the speed of fingers increased.

"I don't think so."

The two fingers came out and three fingers went deep inside.

Yugi screamed as those fingers hit something at that moment. White liquid splattered across his torso. Tears slid down his cheeks and Yugi knew that he drooling, but not having the energy to wipe it away.

"So beautiful." Yami did it for him, still thrusting his fingers inside to help Yugi ride his orgasm out. Once it was over, Yami spread his fingers apart, stretching the tight muscles, prodding insistently at the gland that caused Yugi to scream out.

"H-Hah…! Hah…!"

Yugi leaned his head further back in to the pillow, baring his neck to the other and giving high-pitched whines at the pleasure he was receiving. The pleasure invading his mind was too mind-blowing, especially when Yami teased that sensitive spot, so much that he wanted for Yami to just stop. But his body would not listen, and Yugi, without knowing, moved together with the fingers, rocking his hips forward as Yami pushed deeper.

"Ahnn…!"

"…Seducing me."

Yugi barely heard that whisper before the fingers were yanked out. He did not even notice that he whimpered at the loss. If he knew, he would have dug a hole and made sure he hid in it, never coming out. The only thing he noticed was how hastily Yami reached for his belt and unbuckled it.

Yami growled at those dazed, teary eyes on him and quickly unzipped his pants. He did not bother pulling his pants down, and simply brought his member, which was hard and leaking, out. The crimson-eyed man hissed as he stroked himself, making sure to coat himself with his own pre-cum.

Amethyst eyes widened. Its owner could see just how much Yami had restrained himself to this point. It was…so hard. Yugi gulped at the knowledge. And judging by how wet it was, Yugi knew that his boyfriend was almost at his limit. It was so embarrassing to witness this situation, and yet…

It was Yami's turn to widen his eyes. For his boyfriend had started panting and mewling encouraging at him. The leg that was held by his hand lifted higher, providing an invitation to the place he would soon take. He had no idea if Yugi was aware of what he was doing, but he would never resist an invitation from his love. Gripping tighter on the leg, Yami used his free hand to guide himself to the entrance and, without any hesitation, sank into that hot, tight and wet hole.

Yugi opened his mouth in a silent scream. He could feel his boyfriend going deep inside him, every inch, every move. It was so full. He did not realized that he had tightened his muscles, not hearing that soft curse Yami had uttered, only feeling how deep Yami was going into him.

Once they had bottomed out, all could be heard was harsh breathing. One was trying to endure the feeling of being full, and the other trying to hold back from releasing. Upon calming down, Yami reached for his back pocket and took out something.

Yugi blinked confusingly at the phone on Yami's hand.

A grin replied him, "It's time to check on Atem."

Ignoring the 'What?! No! Yami!' protest, Yami dialed the number and waited for his other lover to pick up.

" _Atem speaking._ "

Yami pressed on speaker and placed the phone next to Yugi's face. He gestured to his phone with his head, the grin never leaving his face. Blushing hard, Yugi had no choice but to answer the call. This is so embarrassing!

"A-Atem…" Just as he was about to say more, Yami decided to pull out and thrust back in. "Hn…!"

Yugi shook his head pleadingly at Yami, whom ignored it.

There was a short chuckle from the phone. " _Little one, why are you using Yami's phone? And the greeting you gave…sounds delicious._ "

"N-No…I-" Yugi gasped as Yami thrust into him again. "Uh…W-We," He did his best to focus on his conversation with Atem. "Were wondering when you will be back and-" The next thrust was harder than before. "Ahnn…!" Yugi hurriedly placed a hand on Yami's hand that was on his leg.

"Y-Yami! Stop it!" He pouted. "I'm trying to talk-"

The other male did not let him finish and chose to thrust again, this time hitting that pleasurable spot within Yugi's body.

"AH!" Yugi threw his head back, sweat flying out at the motion.

Yami smirked, reaching forward to grab his phone and held it beside his mouth. "Done with your date?"

" _Adventurous today, aren't we, Yami?_ " Oh, he had no idea exactly how adventurous he was. " _Someone else could have answered my phone._ "

"Hm. I made sure it was you before giving the phone to Aibo." Yami looked down at his flushed Aibo. The sight was more than satisfactory and Yami rewarded that by pressing down on Yugi, grinding his hips teasingly, knowing that he was hitting that spot. Yugi gave a lewd mewl and tightened his muscles at the incessant stroke on his prostate. Yami grunted in arousal. "I won't let others hear Aibo's sweet sounds."

Yami then held the phone on Yugi's other leg, near to where they were joined as one, and started making sweet love to his lovely Aibo. Yugi's voice went higher at that, feeling the friction as Yami thrust in and out, all while hitting his prostate accurately.

Vaguely, Yugi was able to pick up the sounds of skins slapping at each other, where Yami's scrotum hit against his butt cheeks, where Yami's groin area hit the back of his thighs. And with how wet his entrance was from the preparation, the moment Yami went into him, it created a loud, very loud, and obscene squelching sound. Oh good lords! Yugi was being driven crazy from all the sensations.

Apparently, so was Yami, as he held the phone up again to his mouth. "Are you listening to us?" He purred, feeling excited at the fact that Atem was listening to their intimacy.

" _Yes…_ "

"Good," Yami's heart beat faster at the aroused voice of Atem's. Time to end this. "I want you to listen to this before I hang up."

He placed the phone near Yugi's face again, wanting Atem to hear every single pleasured sound he was forcing out from Yugi.

Finally getting serious, Yami threw away all his playful mode and speed up his thrusting.

"Aah…!" Yugi dug his hands into the blankets again, trying to hold on. It was so much different from all the other times they had made love. Normally, Yami would be gentle and made slow love to him, but this time-

"Ah…!" His boyfriend was being so rough! It was as if he could not get enough and wanted more by going harder on Yugi. It was different…and yet, Yugi, for some reason, loved that Yami was so rough on him. It was new, and excited him deep down. "Hnngg…!"

"Scream my name, Yugi."

Yugi's breath hitched at the use of his name. "I…Mnn…!" When the order sank in, he shook his head. "N-No…It's embarra-" He trailed off, feeling his orgasm coming up.

Nearing his end as well, Yami was not willing to let it go without Yugi screaming his name. So he did something to encourage his shy lover.

"Hn!"

Yami first made sure to hit the prostate.

"Not ther-!"

He then placed both of his hands on the back of Yugi's thighs, pressing them down towards Yugi, and straddled over him slightly.

"Ah!"

Yami snarled and pounded hard into Yugi, giving shorter thrusts. This position allowed Yami to plunge deep into Yugi without needing to pull out completely. The older lover continuously hit the prostate with dead accuracy, and with each hit, Yugi's orgasm neared.

"Ya…!"

" **Scream my name, Yugi"**

Those words echoed in his mind, and he was, but a slave to them.

"Yami!"

Yugi screamed out, releasing all over himself before flopping down in total exhaustion.

Yami chuckled, reaching forward to end the call and flipped the phone away from Yugi. He then continued the pace, loving those helpless whines of his little love and finally giving in to his own desires.

Yugi gasped and whimpered at the warm liquid filling him inside.

Panting harshly, Yami slowly pulled out from the trembling body. Yugi, thinking it was all over, breathed out a soft sigh and moved his legs down.

Only to be met with resistance.

Confused, Yugi looked at Yami, who was staring intently on his entrance. Yugi squeaked out in embarrassment and tried to close his legs, but only succeeding in making his entrance winked at Yami.

"Yami…!"

"…I still want one more thing."

"H-Huh…?" Yugi watched Yami leaning near his hole, causing him to gasp at the warm breath on his sensitive place. "Y-Yami, don't-!"

"Squeeze out for me, Aibo."

"Wha-?" Yugi blinked at the unexpected request. He thought for sure Yami was going to lick-

"Squeeze it out." Yami pressed a finger on his hole, spreading it open a little. "I want to see it."

"See…it?"

"I want to see my essence flowing out from you." Yami looked up at the shocked look of his love. "Please?"

Yugi was at a lost, having no idea what to say. But, he supposed there was nothing wrong with it…and Yami did say asked nicely…

Feeling ridiculous, and somewhat shameful, Yugi slowly pushed at his lower body, trying to force out the liquid that was just poured into him. There was nothing at first, then-

"Ngh!"

Yami moaned as white liquid came out from the hole. He pried Yugi's cheeks further apart to watch the liquid flowing out even more, sliding down to his butt cheeks and landing onto the blanket beneath them.

"N-No…" Yugi changed his mind; there was everything wrong with this! Just feeling that liquid coming out from him and Yami watching this made his face burned furiously. The worst was that; the feeling of the semen coming out only caused Yugi to clench his hole against his will, which in turn forced out even more semen. "D-Don't look!"

"Don't stop, Aibo. Keep going." Yami encouraged, unable to resist a few licks before watching the rest dripped to the blanket. "Oh…so prefect. Yes…so much is coming out…" He pressed a kiss near the leaking wet hole. "Squeeze out more, my beautiful Aibo."

His boyfriend was a giant pervert!

Yugi mewled, his body betraying his wishes and involuntarily squeezed out the rest of it. When it was done, Yugi panted, feeling slightly humiliated. But the feeling was soon dispersed with Yami coming up and pressed a kiss to his lips.

"You are so wonderful, my Aibo."

Yugi kissed back, hoping that was the end of it. Only to yelp when something pressed into him again.

Oh lords, Yami was inside him again!

Yugi looked up at his boyfriend in shock.

Yami looked back with a lick on the lips.

"But not enough." Yami pressed his body on Yugi's. "It was so erotic watching that, only makes me want to love you again and again, Aibo."

"Y-Yami…"

"And once Atem reached home," Yugi cried out at the harsh thrust from his boyfriend. "He, too, will love you the way I did. Or perhaps, I should just let him watch us. Let him see just how full you are. Filled up with my essence." Yami whispered hotly to his left earlobe. "And you will be very full. I will make sure of it. So full that it comes out without you pushing it out." Yami accentuated that with a short, wet thrust.

 _H-He's doing dirty talking…!_

Feeling faint and weak, Yugi did the only thing he could do at the moment.

He succumbed to his boyfriend's wishes.

~The End~

* * *

 _Oh good lords indeed…*Blush*_

 _I normally would not post an interlude in a story (as it would be disruptive to the story), but I was gone for quite some time… *Sweatdrops* And this part was finished first so I decided to upload it first. My deepest apologies to all of you readers, I will continue to do my best to upload my stories, I only hope that you have the patience to see it through *Bows deeply*_

 _ **Sneak peek of the next chapter: (The parts that I have done so far that is)**_

" _You are getting innocent people involved…! It's wrong!" She sobbed out softly._

" _I will make sure to get him back for the humiliation he had caused me."_

" _It's too late."_

" _They have trapped us."_

 _Reviews…?_


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